Dhurandhar Won 14 Awards and Lost Best Film — Here's Why the Jury Got It Right [Analysis]

"Dhurandhar won 14 trophies at the Chetak Screen Awards 2026 and lost Best Film to Homebound. Sanjay Gupta called it a farce. The jury called it a statement. Both are right — and the controversy is more revealing than the verdict."

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

At the Chetak Screen Awards 2026:

• Dhurandhar won 14 awards

  • Including Best Director (Aditya Dhar)

  • Best Actor Male (Ranveer Singh)

• But Best Film went to

  → Homebound

Fallout:

• Sanjay Gupta publicly criticised the decision

• Zakir Khan added fuel with commentary

• Awards also introduced a separate OTT category, with Stolen winning Best OTT Film

THE INSIDER TAKE

This only looks like a contradiction if you think awards are about counting wins.

They’re not.

What the jury did:

• Recognised Dhurandhar as

  
  

  → technically and performatively dominant

• But gave Best Film to Homebound as

  
  

  → the film that represents the year’s voice

That’s a distinction between:

• Craft excellence

• Cultural endorsement

The jury didn’t ignore Dhurandhar.They just refused to canonise it as the defining film of the year.

WHY THIS MATTERS

This verdict sends three clear signals:

1. To big-budget cinemaWinning everything doesn’t guarantee the crown

2. To indie filmmakersThere is still space for→ small, socially-rooted storytelling

3. To the industryAwards are not just metrics→ They are narratives about identity and direction

It also reframes:

• Aditya Dhar → validated as a top-tier filmmaker

• Neeraj Ghaywan → elevated as a voice the industry wants to push forward

WHAT FANS ARE MISSING

The real structural shift:

• OTT category separation

With Stolen winning Best OTT Film, the awards effectively said:

• Streaming is no longer “secondary”

• It is a parallel industry

Implication:

• Future award shows will likely split into

  
  

  → Theatrical vs OTT ecosystems

That’s a bigger change than the Best Film controversy itself.

QUICK FACTS

• Event: Chetak Screen Awards 2026

• Best Film: Homebound (Neeraj Ghaywan)

• Dhurandhar Wins: 14 awards

• Best OTT Film: Stolen

• Controversy: Public reactions from Sanjay Gupta, Zakir Khan

• Broadcast/Platform: JioHotstar (India & global)

FANS ALSO ASKED

Q: Why didn’t Dhurandhar win Best Film?

A: The jury made a holistic choice — rewarding Homebound as the defining film of the year, while still awarding Dhurandhar across 14 categories.

Q: Who directed Homebound?

A: Neeraj Ghaywan.

Q: What did Sanjay Gupta say?

A: He publicly criticised the verdict, calling it unfair given Dhurandhar’s dominance.

Q: Was Dhurandhar 2 part of these awards?

A: No. Only the original Dhurandhar (2025) was eligible.