The Star Screen Awards, formerly known as the Colors Screen Awards and the Life OK Screen Awards, was initiated by Viveck Goenka, the chairman of the news media publishing company Indian Express Group that publishes several widely circulated dailies, including The Indian Express and The Financial Express. It has been presented for excellence in Indian cinema and television every year since 1995.
The Screen Awards were conceived as India’s first film awards that are given by a panel of distinguished film industry professionals, as opposed to “popular awards” which are given out based on the results of a popular vote. However, in 2009 the award committee introduced two Popular Choice Awards: the Screen Award for Best Actor – Popular Choice and the Screen Award for Best Actress – Popular Choice. There also are Critics’ Awards for Best Actor and Best Actress.
The Star Screen Awards are presented for films and television shows in Hindi and Marathi. Occasionally, the Screen Awards for Excellence in South Indian Cinema have been presented for films in other languages such as Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Tamil.
The Star Screen Awards used to be held in January, but since 2016, it has taken place in December. The name of the event has changed several times depending on the broadcaster: Star Screen Awards in 2000–2011 and from 2016 onward, Colors Screen Awards in 2012 and 2013, and Life OK Screen Awards in 2014 and 2015.
As of 2017, the film with the most Screen Awards is the biographical sports drama film Dangal (“Wrestling Competition”) directed by Nitesh Tiwari. It won 12 awards, including Best Film and Best Director.
Photo: indianexpress.com
