Films 'Article 15' and 'Soni'and 'Gully Boy' win big

Vishal & Rekha Bhardwaj and Varun Grover perform at the event

The first ever SWA Awards 2020, organized by the Screenwriters Association, to felicitate screenwriters and lyricists was held yesterday and was a thundering success. Hosted by actors Varun Badola and Rajeshwari Sachdeva, the event focused mainly on the writers - with the jury members who are eminent screenwriters, directors and show creators themselves announcing the winners among almost 90 nominees in 15 categories in Feature Films, TV Shows, Web Series and Lyrics.

The evening exuded a lot of charm and a celebratory tone with several performers - Writer, producer and director Aatish Kapadia doing a comedy sketch on how the world generally behaves with writers, Writer and stand-up comic Varun Grover taking potshots at the Hindi film and television industry on the bizarre writing inputs and notes that screenwriters often receive; Poets and lyricists Shellee and Hussain Haidry doing a lyrical jugalbandi on the hardships and joys of being a writer and mentalist Akshay Laxman weaving his illusionary magic on audience members. The evening concluded with a soulful performance of two songs by singer Rekha Bhardwaj and screenwriter, filmmaker and composer Vishal Bhardwaj.

The first ever SWA Awards 2020 was held online and the buzz was palpable as the jury panels announced the awards in various categories.

TV SHOWS.

The jury comprising of Anand Mahendroo, Ajai Sinha, Kamlesh Pandey, Liliput Faruqui, Manjul Sinha, Purnendu Shekhar and Sanjay Upadhyay announced the winners in the TV shows categories:

1. TV Comedy- Best Story: Nitin Keswani for Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah
2. TV Comedy- Best Dialogues: Bhavna Vyas for Baavle Utaavle
3. TV Comedy- Best Screenplay: Aatish Kapadia for Bhakharwadi
4. TV Drama- Best Story: No Award
5. TV Drama- Best Dialogues: Preeti Mamgain for Mere Dad Ki Dulhan
6. TV Drama- Best Screenplay: Kartick Sitaraman for Mere Dad Ki Dulhan

WEB SERIES

The jury comprising of Ruchi Narain, Suhail Tatari & Sweksha Bhagat for Web Original Drama; Juhi Shekhar, Reshu Nath & Shiv Subrahmanyam for Web Original Comedy; and Anuraadha Tewari, Anuya Jakatdar & Ketki Pandit for Web Adaptation announced the winners in the Web Series categories:

7. Web Series- Best Original Drama: Richie Mehta & Sanyuktha Chawla Shaikh for Delhi Crime
8. Web Series-Best Original Comedy: Devika Bhagat & Ishita Moitra for Four More Shots Please!
9. Web Series- Best Adaptation: Dhruv Narang, Nihit Bhave, Pooja Tolani and Varun Grover for Sacred Games - Season2

LYRICS

The jury comprising of Amit Khanna, Ila Arun, Kausar Munir, Mayur Puri & Panchhi Jalonvi announced the winners in the Lyrics categories:
10. TV/Web- Best Lyrics: Zama Habib for the song Ek Chup Tum, Ek Chup Main from the show Ishaaron Ishaaron Mein
11. Feature Films-Best Lyrics: Manoj Muntashir for the song Teri Mitti from the film Kesari

FEATURE FILMS

The jury comprising of Apurva Asrani, Ashwiny Iyer Towari and Leena Yadav announced the winner in the Best Gender Sensitive Script category:
12. Best Gender Sensitive Script: Ivan Ayr & Kislay for Soni
The jury comprising of Ashok Mishra, Atul Tiwari, Juhi Chaturvedi, Saket Chaudhary, Urmi Juvekar, Vijay Krishna Acharya and Vinay Shukla announced the winners in the Feature Films categories:
13. Feature Films- Best Debut Writer: Ivan Ayr & Kislay for Soni
14. Feature Films- Best Dialogues: Vijay Maurya for Gully Boy
15. Feature Films- Best Story: Anubhav Sinha & Gaurav Solanki for Article 15
16. Feature Films- Best Screenplay: Anubhav Sinha & Gaurav Solanki for Article 15

Several members from the board of Screenwriters Association spoke at the occasion - Robin Bhatt, president; Sunil Salgia, Gen Secretary; and EC members Satyam Tripathy, Shellee, Manisha Korde, Ketki Pandit and Anum Rajabali. The event can be viewed on Screenwriters Association's YouTube Channel.



The Screenwriters Association (formerly Film Writers' Association) is a trade union of screenwriters and lyricists who work for Films, TV and Digital Media in India. With a membership of over 20,000 writers, SWA safeguards the interests, rights, compensation and privileges of its members in all matters relating to their professional engagement and working conditions. It has been working for the last 60 years to get the Indian film and TV industries to acknowledge the central role of writers through collective bargaining, legal assistance, mediation and settlement of disputes and education.