Critics’ Choice Awards: ‘Homebound’ Leads Films, ‘Black Warrant’ Reigns In OTT
PTI March 25, 2026 02:41 AM

Mumbai, Mar 24 (PTI) Neeraj Ghaywan's "Homebound" emerged as the biggest winner at the 8th Critics' Choice Awards on Tuesday, sweeping four major honours including best film, best director, best actor for Vishal Jethwa and best supporting actress for Shalini Vatsa.

The annual awards, presented by the Film Critics Guild in association with WPP Motion Entertainment, honour excellence across feature films, web series, short films and documentaries, with voting conducted by 56 film critics from across the country.

On the web series front, Vikramaditya Motwane's crime thriller "Black Warrant" dominated with four wins -- best web series, best director, best supporting actor for Rahul Bhat and best writing for Satyanshu Singh and Arkesh Ajay.

Priyanka Bose won Best Actress in the feature film category for "Agra", while Pasupathy claimed Best Supporting Actor for "Bison Kaalamaadan" -- his second Critics' Choice win.

Jaideep Ahlawat ("Paatal Lok Season 2") and Monika Panwar ("Khauf") took home the best actor and best actress honours respectively in the web series category, with Tillotama Shome winning best supporting actress for "Paatal Lok Season 2".

Writing honours in the feature film category went to Rohan Parashuram Kanawade for "Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears)", the Sundance-winning film that had received three nominations.

Cinematography and editing awards went to Sunil Borkar ("Jugnuma") and Chaman Chakko ("Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra") respectively. The FCG Gender Sensitivity Award was presented to "Sthal".

In short films, filmmaker Apurva Bardapurkar's "Maaybaapache Aashirwaad (Blessings)" led with three wins -- best film, best director and best writing .

Sunny Hinduja ("That's A Wrap") and Sheeba Chaddha ("Nighiyaan Chhavan") won acting honours in the category.

Vivek Chaudhary's "I, Poppy", a Hot Docs winner, claimed the Best Documentary prize.

Veteran actor Farida Jalal, who was recently seen in Anusha Rizvi's "The Great Shamsuddin Family", was conferred the Extraordinary Contribution to Cinema Award, celebrating a career spanning decades and genres.

Accepting the best director award, Ghaywan said the recognition meant a great deal to him and the entire "Homebound" team.

“Film criticism pushes us to learn, reflect, and do better, so this award truly means a lot to me and the entire Homebound team. 'Homebound' comes from the lives and lived experiences of people across our country who are often overlooked and unseen.

"It’s a tribute to their spirit to keep going in the face of dwindling hope," Ghaywan said. 

(Disclaimer: This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)

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