Mumbai, April 7

The Chetak Screen Awards 2026 celebrated the best of Hindi cinema and OTT in a star-studded ceremony held in Mumbai on 5 April.

Director Neeraj Ghaywan's 'Homebound' was adjudged Best Film, with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Reliance Foundation founder-chairperson Nita Ambani presenting the award to the team, as per a press release.

Meanwhile, Aditya Dhar's Dhurandhar emerged as the biggest winner of the night, sweeping 14 awards across categories. Dhar also took home the Best Director honour.

In acting categories, Yami Gautam won Best Actor (Female) for Haq, while Ranveer Singh bagged Best Actor (Male) for his performance in 'Dhurandhar'.

The Chetak Screen Awards 2026 introduced five new categories to celebrate cinematic excellence in the OTT domain. While Sanya Malhotra won Best Actor (Female) - OTT Film for her performance in Mrs, Karan Tejpal's Stolen emerged as a major winner at the Chetak Screen Awards, taking home Best OTT Film, Best Director - OTT film (Karan Tejpal), Best Actor (Male) - OTT film for Abhishek Banerjee, and Best Script - OTT film (Karan Tejpal, Gaurav Dhingra, and Swapnil Salkar).

The ceremony, hosted by Alia Bhatt along with Sunil Grover, Zakir Khan and Saurabh Dwivedi, combined grandeur with emotional moments. A special 'In Memoriam' segment paid tribute to film personalities who passed away in 2025.

Veteran actor Dharmendra was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award. His son Bobby Deol accepted the award on his behalf, with the presentation made by Javed Akhtar, Ramesh Sippy and Devendra Fadnavis.

Speaking at the event, Bobby Deol recalled his father's belief in spreading happiness and gratitude, adding that Dharmendra always encouraged people to believe in their inner gifts.

The award was presented by legendary screenwriter-lyricist Javed Akhtar, veteran filmmaker Ramesh Sippy, and Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis. While addressing the gathering, Bobby choked up and said, "I see my father's love in all your eyes. My father touched everyone's hearts through his work and even through his Instagram reels, which had become his new hobby," as per the press release.

Mentioning that Dharmendra always believed in spreading happiness and gratitude, Bobby added, "He always wanted people to stay happy and believed that God has given all of us so much in life. He used to say that we all have a special gift within us, and if we believe in it, we can achieve anything," as per the press release

Instituted by The Indian Express Group, the awards are determined by the Screen Academy, an independent body of 53 filmmakers and artistes. The selection process, developed under the guidance of Dr Priya Jaikumar, followed a structured and transparent evaluation system based on creativity, technical excellence, innovation, viewer connection, and authenticity.

Among other winners, Akshaye Khanna and Shalini Vatsa won supporting acting honours for Dhurandhar and Homebound, respectively, while Gulzar and Shreya Ghoshal were among the key music award winners, as per the press release

Here is the full list of winners at the Chetak Screen Awards 2026:

Best Film: Homebound

Best Actor (Female): Yami Gautam Dhar - Haq

Best Actor (Male): Ranveer Singh - Dhurandhar

Best Director: Aditya Dhar - Dhurandhar

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female): Shalini Vatsa - Homebound

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male): Akshaye Khanna - Dhurandhar

Best Action: Aejaz Gulab, Sea Young Oh, Yannick Ben, Ramazan Bulut - Dhurandhar

Best Background Score: Shashwat Sachdev - Dhurandhar

Best Choreography: Vijay Ganguly - Shararat (Dhurandhar)

Best Cinematography: Vikash Nowlakha - Dhurandhar

Best Costume: Sheetal Iqbal Sharma - Chhaava; Smriti Chauhan - Dhurandhar

Best Dialogue: Aditya Dhar - Dhurandhar

Best Editing: Shivkumar V Panicker - Dhurandhar

Best Film for Gender Sensitivity: Haq

Best Film Writing (Story & Screenplay): Basharat Peer, Neeraj Ghaywan, Sumit Roy - Homebound

Best Hairstyling & Make-Up: Preetisheel Singh D'souza - Dhurandhar

Best Song: Saiyaara Title Track - Saiyaara (Tanishk Bagchi, Faheem Abdullah, Arslan Nizami)

Best Lyrics: Gulzar - Ul Julool Ishq (Gustaakh Ishq)

Best Playback Singer (Male): Faheem Abdullah - Saiyaara Title Track (Saiyaara)

Best Playback Singer (Female): Shreya Ghoshal - Saiyaara Title Track (Saiyaara)

Best Production Design: Saini S Johray - Dhurandhar

Best Sound Design: Bishwadeep Chatterjee - Dhurandhar

Best Special Effects: Envision VFX, Philm CGI, Resonance Digital, Dhruti Ranjan Sahoo, Vishal Tyagi, Raza Mohammed Shaikh - Dhurandhar

Breakthrough Debut Director: Shazia Iqbal - Dhadak 2

Breakthrough New Actor (Female): Aneet Padda - Saiyaara

Breakthrough New Actor (Male): Ahaan Panday - Saiyaara

Best OTT Film - Stolen

Best Actor (Female) - OTT Film: Sanya Malhotra - Mrs

Best Actor (Male) - OTT film: Abhishek Banerjee - Stolen

Best Director - OTT film: Karan Tejpal - Stolen

Best Script - OTT film: Stolen - Karan Tejpal, Gaurav Dhingra, Swapnil Salkar