The Film Critics Guild and GroupM Motion Entertainment, in collaboration with Vistas Media Capital, announced the winners of the Critics’ Alternative Awards 2025. The star-studded ceremony, supported by streaming partner Sony Liv, honoured outstanding achievements in feature movies, short movies, documentaries, and web series from across India. Recognized for its credibility and independence, the Film Critics Guild is India’s largest body of film critics, representing voices from across languages and regions.
Critics’ Alternative Awards 2025 full winners list: All We Imagine As Light wins Best Film, Diljit Dosanjh bags Beast Actor award, Poacher dominates web series category
Curated by an esteemed jury comprising of members of the Film Critics Guild, the winners were chosen from a various pool of nominees spanning multiple languages and platforms. A brand new category introduced this 12 months, Best Documentary, recognized outstanding feature-length documentary movies, with Nocturnes Winning the award for its impactful storytelling.
Within the Feature Movies category, All We Imagine As Light won the coveted Best Feature Film award for its compelling storytelling and artistic brilliance. Diljit Dosanjh delivered a standout performance, earning the Best Actor award for Amar Singh Chamkila, while Darshana Rajendran’s fascinating portrayal in Paradise won her the Best Actress award. Moreover, Ravi Kishan’s memorable role in Laapataa Ladies earned him the Best Supporting Actor award, while Kani Kusruti took home the Best Supporting Actress trophy for her remarkable performance in Girls Will Be Girls.
Within the Web Series category, Poacher dominated multiple categories, winning Best Web Series and showcasing the depth of talent within the digital space. co-star Nimisha Sajayan was awarded Best Actress for Poacher and a second award for the night, this time for Barun Sobti won Best Actor for the delightful Raat Jawaan Hai.
Within the Short Movies category, Obur emerged because the standout winner, securing Best Short Film together with multiple other accolades. Harish Khanna was awarded Best Actor for Jal Tu Jalaal Tu, while Jyoti Dogra won Best Actress for Taak (Tracker), reflecting the depth of talent on this category.
The Extraordinary Contribution to Cinema Award was presented to the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), recognising their pivotal role in advocating for gender equality and safer workspaces within the Malayalam film industry. The honour highlights the commitment of the Critics’ Alternative Awards to celebrating voices that drive meaningful change in cinema.
Spotlighting outstanding achievements across diverse cinematic categories, the Critics’ Alternative Awards (CCA) proceed to set a benchmark in recognising excellence in Indian cinema. The awards are curated by 59 esteemed film critics from the Film Critics Guild.This 12 months’s nominations brought together an incredible range of talent, transcending language and platform boundaries to have fun the Indian entertainment industry’s finest.
Amidst stiff competition, the Critics’ Alternative Awards 2025 jury meticulously evaluated the nominations, ensuring that essentially the most exceptional works of Indian cinema received their due recognition.
Accepting the award for Best Actor in a Feature Film for Amar Singh Chamkila, Diljit Dosanjh expressed his heartfelt gratitude, stating, “Thanks to the Film Critics Guild for this award, bohotbohot shukriya for considering me worthy of this honor. I dedicate this award to Amar Singh Chamkila and to Imtiaz Sir, who brought this beautiful film to life. I just had the prospect to be an element of it—it was entirely Imtiaz Sir’s labor. A giant thanks to the whole forged and crew of the film.”
Receiving the award for Best Director in a Feature Film for All We Imagine As Light, Payal Kapadia expressed her deep appreciation for the popularity, stating, “I’m deeply honoured and completely happy to be recognised by the Critics’ Alternative Awards. This 12 months has been crammed with incredible movies, and it means a lot to be amongst such inspiring filmmakers. The awards hold a special place in my heart, as so many critics have been splendidly supportive of All We Imagine As Light. Thanks for supporting our film every step of the best way.”
Richie Mehta, awarded Best Director and Best Series for Poacher, reflected on the popularity, saying, “It’s an honour to have our series ‘Poacher’ be awarded by the critics, because it was a series made with immense love and fervour, by so many, to honour the guardians of all species, who themselves are never recognised. I hope they feel the love today, as our story is merely a mirrored image of their extraordinary work, further reinforced by this recognition.”
Nimisha Sajayan, named Best Actress in a Series for Poacher, shared her gratitude, stating, “Absolutely thrilled and honoured to receive this award and intensely grateful to all of the critics and the jury. ‘Poacher’ modified me as an artiste and as an individual in some ways and any appreciation for Mala (her character’s name) is special for me. It has been a really humbling experience. Thanks.”
Jyoti Dogra, who won Best Actress in a Short Film for Taak, said, “A giant thanks to all of the critics for watching our film and for this award. A special due to Udit Khurana, directorof ‘Taak’, forgiving me space and time to enter the world of Shalini. For somebody who has been mostly doing stage work past 20 years this recognition is unexpected I feel a strong critics community is crucial to any art form. A bunch of individuals dedicating their energies to constructing aconversation around recent and old works, creating inclusive platforms for all types of stories and ways of telling them is helpful each for the makers and the audience. Thanks a lot Critics’ Alternative Awards.”
Dibyendu Bhattacharya, recognised as Best Supporting Actor in a Series for Poacher, acknowledged the honour, saying, “Awards are at all times a validation of your craft and while you get it from the highest critics of India then it’s huge and feels out of the ordinary. Thanks, Critics’ Alternative Awards, for acknowledging my work in ‘Poacher’. This award will certainly motivate me to further work hard on this Industry.”
Anirban Dutta, filmmaker of ‘Nocturnes’, expressed his gratitude on winning Best Documentary, saying, “We’re very moved that the Critics’ Alternative Awards has chosen ‘Nocturnes’ for this honour. This film is deeply special to (co-director) Anupama and me, made at a time after we felt suffocated by urban life in Delhi—its pollution, its heat—and longed to reconnect with nature and rediscover childlike wonder. We created it with love, especially for young people and kids, hoping they’d step away from their devices and appreciate the straightforward great thing about trees, ants, and butterflies around them. This recognition gives us hope that ‘Nocturnes’, already released in 15 U.S. cities and the UK, will now find its place in Indian cinema halls, an achievement we deeply cherish. We truly appreciate the jury for recognising our work.”
Sucharita Tyagi, Vice Chairperson of the Film Critics Guild, highlighted the importance of film criticism and the Critics’ Alternative Awards, stating, “Film criticism is a very important and integral facet of journalism, and the Film Critics Guild goals to strengthen and nurture this community of cultural commentators who consider in the ability of the written word. The Critics’ Alternative Awards are about encouraging conversation between critics and people who tell the stories we watch and comment on. With these awards, and now with our brand-new review aggregator website, fcgreviews.com, we hope to remain connected not only with one another, but in addition with an audience that appears to us.”
Ashwin Padmanabhan, Chief Operating Officer, GroupM South Asia, said, “At GroupM, we consider in the ability of storytelling to encourage, challenge, and connect people. Stories spark conversations, shape perspectives, and leave an enduring impact. Above all, we champion inclusive storytelling—celebrating diverse voices that push creative boundaries. In partnership with the Film Critics Guild and Vistas Media Capital, we proudly honor storytellers across feature movies, short movies, documentaries, and web series from throughout India. These awards have grow to be an emblem of artistic excellence, spotlighting narratives that transcend borders. As we glance ahead, we aim to amplify this platform—elevating fresh talent, embracing recent voices, and ensuring powerful stories proceed to captivate audiences and shape the industry.”
Abhayanand Singh, CEO and Co-Founder, Vistas.Media, shared, “Vistas Media congratulates all of the winners of the seventh edition of Critics’ Alternative Awards. We also congratulate the nominees as this was a really competitive 12 months with a number of exceptional talent that presented us with amazing stories.”
Notable winners for the seventh Edition of Critics’ Alternative Awards 2025
Short Film Category:
Best Short Film:
Obur
Best Director:
Faraz Ali for Obur
Best Actor:
Harish Khanna for Jal Tu Jalaal Tu
Best Actress:
Jyoti Dogra for Taak (Tracker)
Best Writing:
Faraz Ali for Obur
Best Cinematography:
Anand Bansal for Obur
Documentary Category:
Best Documentary:
Nocturnes
Web Series Category:
Best Web Series:
Poacher
Best Director:
Richie Mehta for Poacher
Best Actor:
Barun Sobti for Raat Jawaan Hai
Best Actress:
Nimisha Sajayan for Poacher
Best Supporting Actor:
Dibyendu Bhattacharya for Poacher
Best Supporting Actress:
Kani Kusruti for Poacher
Best Writing:
Richie Mehta, Gopan Chidambaran, SuprotimSengupta, Amrita Bagchi for Poacher
Feature Film Category:
Best Film:
All We Imagine As Light
Best Director:
Payal Kapadia for All We Imagine As Light
Best Actor:
Diljit Dosanjh for Amar Singh Chamkila
Best Actress:
Darshana Rajendran for Paradise
Best Supporting Actor:
Ravi Kishan for Laapataa Ladies
Best Supporting Actress:
Kani Kusruti for Girls Will Be Girls
Best Writing:
Anand Ekarshi for Aattam
Best Cinematography:
Ranabir Das for All We Imagine As Light
Best Editing:
Shivkumar V. Panicker for Kill
Gender Sensitivity Award:
Girls Will Be Girls
Also Read: Anil Kapoor praises director Vidhu Vinod Chopra as twelfth Fail wins Best Film at Critics Alternative Awards 2024, calls him David Lean of Hindi cinema
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