Filmfare Awards Assamese 2026: How an Event Triggered a Major Upset for Assamese Cinema

Filmfare Awards Assamese 2026: How an Event Triggered a Major Upset for Assamese Cinema

Gaurav Gautam Saha

The Filmfare Awards Assamese 2026 were held on the evening of February 27 in the Sri Sri Damodardeva International Auditorium at the Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati. The pan Indian award show celebrated and honoured the best of Assamese cinema from the years 2024 and 2025 amidst an august gathering of film stars and filmmakers.

[Filmmaker Suvrat Kakoti with his 6 awards at the Filmfare Awards Assamese 2026]

Organized for the second time, the prestigious awards ceremony not only recognized the outstanding achievements across acting, direction, music and a few technical categories but also marked a significant occasion for the regional film industry.

Several films emerged as dominant winners at the ceremony, with Bidurbhai, Gulai Soor, Malamal Boyyyz and Rudra securing top honours across multiple categories. These films were widely acknowledged as they scored multiple wins.

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But all was not well for the night as later, the awards ceremony sparked significant controversy within the Assamese film fraternity. In the aftermath of the event, several industry members took to social media, particularly Facebook, to express their dissatisfaction with the selection process, procedures and outcomes.

Many filmmakers, actors and technicians have raised multiple concerns regarding the transparency and fairness of the awards. In a Facebook post, National Award–winning film critic and filmmaker Utpal Borpujari stated that it was “quite interesting” for him to serve as a jury member for the awards, as he was on the bench of the jury for both 2024 and 2025.

In the same post, Borupujari also shed some light on the judging process for the award, noting that the jury members were not informed about who else was on the jury, and there was no collective jury meeting held as part of the evaluation process.

While the organizers adopted a preferential ballot system, Borupujari noted that a “discussion among the jury members could have led to a more passionate decision, given that judging cinema is a subjective process rather than an objective, method-oriented mathematics”. The same thoughts were also echoed by senior actor Baharul Islam, who also admitted being part of the jury.

Meanwhile, filmmaker Bitopan Kashyap commented on the alleged ‘secrecy’ surrounding the facilitation of the award processes. Several filmmakers and industry insiders too have noted that the awards ceremony received almost no prior publicity in Assam. Even the state’s regional media was kept out of the scene.

Further criticism emerged over the timing of the nominations announcement. The list of the nominated films was reportedly uploaded on the official Filmfare website only around 2 PM on the day of the event—just hours before the ceremony began. 

Many nominees, including senior actor Adil Hussain, claimed that they were not officially informed about the nominations nor invited to the ceremony. Jury member Baharul Islam too shared a social media status voicing the same issue. In the meantime, in a video by Asom Live 24, Baharul Islam has already expressed his suspicion over a possible reshuffling of the jury decisions which, as per his words, can be seen as a reason for not inviting the judges to the main ceremony.

[The ultimate winners who lit up the Filmfare Awards Assamese 2026]

Meanwhile, more serious concerns were raised about the nomination process itself. While some filmmakers acknowledged that not receiving a nomination is part of any competitive award system, National Award–winning filmmaker Khanjan Kishore Nath highlighted a more troubling issue.

In a social media post, Nath alleged that despite his film Eta Nirjon Duporiya being listed among the eligible films, he was never contacted for a screener copy for evaluation. Later, jury member Utpal Borupujari clarified in his social media post that Nath’s film was never found among the entries shared with the jury for evaluation!

Another concern was raised by National Award winning sound designer Debajit Gayan as he felt disappointed that a few major technical categories like sound editing and design and also makeup and costume were left out of the awards. It was even more infuriating because Filmfare honours the respective craft categories in other regions. Many industry peers, like National Award winner Debajit Changmai and previous Filmfare Award winner Monjul Baruah, openly supported the concern.

The show was also marked by significant mismanagement and a lack of coordination. In a goof-up during the event, the audio-visual presentation, honouring veteran actress Bidya Rao with the Lifetime Achievement Award, displayed incorrect photographs of the actress.

Additionally, filmmaker Rudrajit Mazumder pointed out that the slideshow during the program was also poorly executed. There appeared to be no alignment between the subject agenda and the slide transitions. To make matters worse, the screen displayed the names of both the 2024 and 2025 award winners before it was officially announced by the anchors, effectively revealing the result in advance.

Other concerns included announcing only the names of the winners on stage without mentioning the nominees, which many felt was a major sign of disrespect toward the nominated artistes. In a separate issue, actress Nandinee Kashyap questioned how she was overlooked for a Best Actress nomination when her film Rudra was nominated in all the major categories. She suspects a personal incident in her life to be the reason for the omission.

In another case, the producer(s) of Bhaimon Da and Roi Roi Binale chose not to submit their films for consideration because the award organizers requested online screeners for jury viewing. But the makers believed that their films could not be fairly judged on small screens and hence offered to arrange a theatre screening for the jury at their own expense. To this, the organizers did not respond positively.

While such criticisms have triggered a broader conversation within the Assamese film community, many also debate on the relevance of such awards in the long run. For many, such award shows are nothing but a gimmick as they believe that Assamese cinema stands superior on its own. It is time for Assamese filmmakers and actors to stop chasing these accolades.

Many also view that award ceremonies like this are only organized for publicity and in an effort to establish Filmfare as a business brand in Northeast India, including Assam. Many also think on the positive line. They believe that while it is commendable that a reputed organization like Filmfare has started to recognize Assamese cinema, future editions should be more inclusive and work towards supporting the industry collectively.

Sufficient time for consideration, proper preparation, thoughtful publicity and genuine engagement with the local film community should be encouraged to make the event a true success. There will also have to be a greater clarity, transparency and credibility in the selection processes of the films.

Moreover, another point of importance, as highlighted by many, is that it should be called the Filmfare Awards Assam rather than Assamese. This is to recognize the linguistic diversity of the state. Even for 2024 and 2025, films in languages such as Bodo were eligible for consideration. If these steps are taken care of, Filmfare Awards in Assam can have bright prospects.

The Filmfare Awards Assam 2026 was organized in collaboration with the Jeevan Ram Mungi Devi Goenka Public Charitable Trust and supported by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Assam.

Gaurav Gautam Saha is a communication specialist and a socio-cultural commentator

Mahabahu.com is an Online Magazine with collection of premium Assamese and English articles and posts with cultural base and modern thinking.  You can send your articles to editor@mahabahu.com / editor@mahabahoo.com (For Assamese article, Unicode font is necessary) Images from different sources.