‘Homebound’ Wins Big at Critics’ Choice Awards; ‘Black Warrant’ Dominates Web Series Category

Mumbai: Neeraj Ghaywan’s “Homebound” emerged as the biggest winner at the 8th Critics’ Choice Awards on Tuesday, bagging four major awards including best film, best director, best actor for Vishal Jethwa and best supporting actress for Shalini Vatsa. Presented by the Film Critics Circle in association with WPP Motion Entertainment, the annual awards honor excellence in feature films, web series, short films and documentaries as voted on by 56 film critics from across the country.

On the web series front, Vikramaditya Motwane’s crime thriller “Black Warrant” emerged victorious with four wins: Best web series, best director, best supporting actor for Rahul Bhat and best screenplay for Satyanshu Singh and Arkesh Ajay.

While Priyanka Bose won the Best Actress award in the feature film category for the movie “Agra”, Pasupathy received the Best Supporting Actor award for the movie “Bison Kaalamaadan”, his second award in the Critics’ Choice.

Jaideep Ahlawat (“Paatal Lok Season 2”) and Monika Panwar (“Khauf”) won the best actor and best actress awards respectively in the web series category, while Tillotama Shome won the best supporting actress award for “Paatal Lok Season 2”.

The writing award in the feature film category was given to Rohan Parashuram Kanawade for his Sundance award-winning film “Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears)”, which was nominated in three categories.

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

In short films, filmmaker Apurva Bardapurkar’s “Maaybaapache Aashirwaad (Blessings)” won three awards: best film, best director and best screenplay.

Sunny Hinduja (“That’s A Wrap”) and Sheeba Chaddha (“Nighiyaan Chhavan”) won acting awards in this category.

Hot Docs winner Vivek Chaudhary’s “I, Poppy” won the Best Documentary award.

Veteran actor Farida Jalal, who recently starred in Anusha Rizvi’s “The Great Family of Shamsuddin”, was honored with the Outstanding Contribution to Cinema Award, celebrating her career spanning decades and genres.

Ghaywan, who received the best director award, said that this award was very important for him and the entire “Homebound” team.

“Film criticism pushes us to learn, think and do better, so this award really means a lot to me and the entire Homebound team. ‘Homebound’ comes from the lives and lived experiences of people who are often overlooked and unseen in our country.”

“This is a tribute to their spirit of continuing in the face of diminishing hope,” Ghaywan said.