SWA Awards 2020 were presented to 15 winners in Feature Films, TV & Web series categories and Vishal & Rekha Bhardwaj and Varun Grover performed at the event.

Mumbai, September 27, 2020: The first ever SWA Awards 2020, was organized by the Screenwriters Association. SWA Awards felicitated screenwriters and lyricists at a ceremony, which was a thundering success. Hosted by actors Varun Badola and Rajeshwari Sachdeva, the event focused mainly on writers – and the members of several juries were eminent screenwriters, directors and show creators themselves. Winners are among almost 90 nominees in 15 categories across Feature Films, TV Shows, Web Series and Lyrics.

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.

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

Several members from the board of Screenwriters Association, including President Robin Bhatt, General Secretary and EC Members Satyam Tripathy, Shellee, Manisha Korde, Ketki Pandit and Anjum Rajabali, spoke at the occasion.

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

The jury for TV Shows comprised Anand Mahendroo, Ajai Sinha, Kamlesh Pandey, Liliput Faruqui, Manjul Sinha, Purnendu Shekhar and Sanjay Upadhyay.

Nitin Keswani received the Best Story award for the series Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma, Best Dialogues went to Bhavna Vyas for Baavle Utaavle, Aatish Kapadia and Preeti Mamgain with Kartik Sitaraman won the Best Screenplay Awards for the series Bhakadwadi and Mere Dad Ki Dulhan respectively.  

The jury for various Web Series categories comprised 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.

The event can be viewed on Screenwriters Association’s YouTube Channel here:

The awards for the Best Original Drama went to Richie Mehta and Sanyuktha Chawla Shaikh for Delhi Crime, Best Original Comedy went to Devika Bhagat and Ishita Moitra for Four More Shots Please!, and Best Adaptation was given to Dhruv Narang, Nihit Bhave, Pooja Tolani and Varun Grover for Sacred Games – Season 2.

The jury for Best Lyrics comprised Amit Khanna, Ila Arun, Kausar Munir, Mayur Puri & Panchhi Jalonvi and the awards for Best Lyrics for TV/Web went to Zama Habib for Ishaaron Ishaaron Mein and Manoj Muntashir won the Best Lyrics for Feature Films award for the film Kesari.

The jury for the Best Gender Sensitive Script comprised Apurva Asrani, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari and Leena Yadav who announced the winners as Ivan Ayr and Kislay for the film Soni.

The jury for the Best Feature Film Writing comprised Ashok Mishra, Atul Tiwari, Juhi Chaturvedi, Saket Chaudhary, Urmi Juvekar, Vijay Krishna Acharya and Vinay Shukla.

The awards for the Best Debut Writer went to Ivan Ayr and Kislay for Soni, Best Dialogues to Vijay Maurya for Gully Boy, Best Story to Anubhav Sinha and Gaurav Solanki for Article 15 and Best Screenplay to Anubhav Sinha and Gaurav Solanki again for the film Article 15.