ICA 2025 Winners Announced: Haq Wins Best Film
Jaipur, April 14, 2026: The first edition of Cinema of The Year (CTA) – Indian Cinema Awards (ICA) 2025 has officially announced its winners, honouring the finest achievements in Hindi cinema released between January and December 2025. Jointly presented by the Jaipur International Film Festival (JIFF) and the New Delhi Film Festival (NDFF), the awards celebrate excellence in storytelling, performance, direction, and technical brilliance without organising any physical or cultural ceremony.
The nominations were declared on April 8, 2026, and are available on the official websites of JIFF and NDFF. This initiative marks a new milestone in recognising Indian Hindi cinema that entertains while inspiring thought and emotion.
Major Winners
- Best Film: Haq
- Best Director: Aditya Dhar for Dhurandhar
- Best Actor: Vicky Kaushal for Chhaava
- Best Actress: Yami Gautam for Haq
- Best Supporting Actor: Boman Irani for The Mehta Boys
- Best Supporting Actress: Seema Biswas for Jolly LLB 3
- Best Writing: Shreedhar Dubey, Neeraj Ghaywan & Varun Grover for Homebound
- Best Music: Mithoon, Sachet–Parampara, Vishal Mishra, Tanishk Bagchi, Rishabh Kant, Faheem Abdullah & Arslan Nizami for Saiyaara
- Best Background Score: John Stewart Eduri for Saiyaara
- Best Cinematography: Swapnil S. Sonawane for Superboys of Malegaon
- Best Editing: Shivkumar V. Panicker for Dhurandhar
- Best Visual Effects: Rojo Studio for 120 Bahadur
- Best Costume Design: Sheetal Sharma for Chhaava
- Best Action: Parvez Shaikh & Todor Lazarov for Chhaava
- Best Original Song: “Saiyaara” (Composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Faheem Abdullah & Arslan Nizami)
- Best OTT Film: The Mehta Boys
- Best Animation Film: Mahavatar Narsimha
- Best Producer Award: Haq & Mahavatar Narsimha
Hanu Roj, Founder Director of JIFF, stated that through these awards, the initiative aims to highlight Hindi cinema that not only entertains but also inspires society. He described the winners of ICA 2025 as representatives of the golden future of the Indian film industry.
Spokesperson Nitin Sharma emphasised that the awards are a result of transparency, quality, and unwavering dedication to cinema. He noted that ICA 2025 proves Indian cinema is establishing a strong global identity through its creativity and innovation.
The awards reinforce the belief that Indian Hindi cinema continues to set new benchmarks in storytelling and technical excellence. This non-physical format allows the focus to remain purely on artistic merit and cinematic achievement.
Prominent films such as Haq, which emerged as the biggest winner of the night, along with Chhaava, Dhurandhar, Saiyaara, and The Mehta Boys, dominated the honours, reflecting the diverse range of narratives and performances that defined Hindi cinema in 2025.
Haq, a powerful courtroom drama starring Yami Gautam, secured the top honour of Best Film along with Best Actress for Gautam, underscoring its strong impact on audiences and critics alike. Vicky Kaushal’s intense portrayal in the historical drama Chhaava earned him the Best Actor trophy, while Aditya Dhar’s direction of the high-octane Dhurandhar was recognised with the Best Director award.
The inclusion of categories like Best OTT Film and Best Animation Film highlights the evolving landscape of Indian cinema, embracing both theatrical and digital platforms as well as animated storytelling.
As the first edition concludes, organisers have expressed hope that this initiative by JIFF and NDFF will continue to strengthen the highest standards of cinema in the years ahead and expand to other Indian film industries.
For more details, including the full list of winners, posters, and logos, interested parties can visit the official websites: www.jiffindia.org and www.ndffindia.org.
This recognition comes at a time when Indian cinema is gaining greater international attention, and awards like ICA 2025 play a vital role in documenting and celebrating its artistic journey.