More actors, less stars: What made Star Screen Awards unique
What's the story
After a month-long wedding wave in the town, Bollywood is getting on with other jobs, like acknowledging talent.
On Sunday night, the Star Screen Awards was organized and the performers feted.
It goes without saying that the award ceremony was a star-studded affair with Bollywood's A-listers including Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, Rekha, Rajkummar Rao, in attendance.
Winners list
Ranveer, Alia, 'Stree' win top honors
Undoubtedly, 2018 turned out to be a magnificent year for Bollywood. There were content-oriented movies, spectacular performances, and releases which hit gold at the box office.
At the ceremony, the top honors went to Ranveer Singh for his portrayal of Alauddin Khilji in Padmaavat and to Alia Bhatt for her impeccable performance in Meghna Gulzar's Raazi.
Stree won the Best Film Award.
'Badhaai Ho'
Ayushmann Khurrana's 'Badhaai Ho' steals the show
Neena Gupta and Gajraj Rao also won Critics' awards for their stellar performances in one of the biggest hits of 2018, Badhaai Ho.
The movie, also starring Ayushmann Khurrana, revolved around an elderly couple dealing with 'accidental' pregnancy and societal norms.
Apart from the lead couple, Surekha Sikri also bagged the 'Best Actor in Supporting Role' award for the movie.
Shining bright
Rajkummar Rao is the popular actor of the year
One cannot miss Rajkummar Rao's enchanting presence every time he hits the big screen. Interestingly, it was quite a busy year for Rajkummar who had four releases in 2018.
While it must have been a tough decision for organizers to choose his best performance, Rajkummar won the 'Popular Actor' award for his performance in horror-comedy Stree.
The actor deserves every bit of the acknowledgment.
Best Director
Sriram Raghavan trumps all to become the best director
This year several ace filmmakers like Sanjay Leela Bhansali, R. Balki, Meghna Gulzar, wowed everyone with their offerings. But the one who managed to leave them behind and bag a trophy was Sriram Raghavan.
The noted filmmaker won the 'Best Director' award for his thriller movie Andhadhun.
The hit movie features Ayushmann Khurrana, Radhika Apte and Tabu in pivotal roles.
Talent
Star Screen Awards was about talent and not star power
While we have seen ceremonies have a penchant for awarding 'stars', the Star Screen Awards was different this time.
What serves as a testimony is that newcomer Radhika Madan won the Best Debutant award (for Pataakha), in the year when star kids Janhvi Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan stepped into Bollywood.
The Best Debutant (Male) was bagged by Ishaan Khattar for Beyond the Clouds.