Screenwriters Association Awards: Gulzar, Javed Akhtar, Aryan Khan, and Aditya Dhar Land Major Nods; ‘Black Warrant’, ‘Khauf’, ‘Paatal Lok’, and ‘Panchayat’ Lead in Series

The blueprint of every great cinematic masterpiece begins with a single word, and there is no stage more vital for those words than the Screenwriters Association (SWA) Awards. Achieving a premier status as the most respected recognition for the "architects of the screen," the 7th edition of the SWA Awards has unveiled its full list of nominations. The awards will celebrate the groundbreaking films, series, and television shows of 2025 that pushed the envelope of storytelling in a grand ceremony set for May 23.

The SWA awards are witnessing high-profile industry names—including Anurag Basu, Aditya Dhar, Sudip Sharma, and debutant Aryan Khan—landing major nominations across categories.

In the Web Comedy/Musical/Romance segment, Aryan Khan’sdebut work, The Ba***ds of Bollywood, has secured a significant footprint with three nominations across Best Story, Best Screenplay (co-written with Bilal Siddiqi and Manav Chauhan), and Best Dialogue, penned by Khan himself.

The Web Drama category is a clash of heavyweights. Writerssecuring nominations across the Story, Screenplay, and Dialogue categories include Satyanshu Singh and Arkesh Ajay (Black Warrant), Sudip Sharma, Abhishek Banerjee, Rahul Kanojia, and Tamal Sen (Paatal Lok: Season 2), and Smita Singh(Khauf).

They are joined by the team of Simaab Hashmi, Dhruv Narang, and Mahesh Mathai for Real Kashmir Football Club. Notably, Sumit Arora has bagged a Best Dialogue nomination for The Family Man: Season 3, while Pushkar Sunil Mahabalis in the running for Black, White & Gray - Love Kills in the story and screenplay category.

Screenwriter Smita Singh has emerged as the most-nominated individual of this year with 4 nominations. In addition to her sweep for the series Khauf, she is also nominated in the Feature Film category for her work on the screenplay of Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders.

In the Feature Film wing, the Best Debut nominations feature a diverse range of voices, including Rahul Badwelkar and Shazia Iqbal (Dhadak 2), Ankur Singla (Ghich Pich), Aranya Sahay (Humans in the Loop), and Tisca Chopra and Sanjay Chopra for Saali Mohabbat.

Leading the Feature Film tally are Anurag Basu’s Metro... In Dino and the critically acclaimed Stolen. Basu is nominated in all three major categories for Metro... In Dino, sharing the Dialogue nomination with Sandeep Srivastava and Samrat Chakraborty. For Stolen, the team of Karan Tejpal, Gaurav Dhingra, and Swapnil Salkar "Agadbumb" are recognized in Story and Screenplay, while Shubham Vardhan and Swapnil Salkar "Agadbumb" are nominated for Dialogue.

Aditya Dhar has bagged two nominations (Screenplay and Dialogue) for his work on Dhurandhar, while Varun Groverhas secured a dual presence with a Story nomination for Superboys of Malegaon and a Dialogue nod shared with Shoaib Zulfi Nazeer.

The Lyrics category celebrates the enduring brilliance of Indian cinema’s legendary voices. Javed Akhtar is nominated for ‘Bande’ (Superboys of Malegaon), alongside Gulzar for ‘Hum Fanaa’ (Gustaakh Ishq), while last year’s winner, Irshad Kamil, returns with a nomination for ‘Aawaara Angaara’ (Tere Ishk Mein).

In a testament to their prolific output, three lyricists lead the pack with dual nominations: Amitabh Bhattacharya for ‘Good for Nothing’ (Sitaare Zameen Par) and ‘Qayde Se’ (Metro... In Dino); JUNO for both ‘Dekh Tamasha’ and ‘Generator Song’ (Panchayat: Season 4); and Anvita Dutt for ‘Naseeba’ and ‘Pagg Vich Raakhi Da’ (Black Warrant). The latter two are nominated in Best Lyrics (TV/Web) category.

In the Television wing, Itti Si Khushi, Megha Barsenge, and Pushpa Impossible are the standout titles, bagging nominations across all three core categories. Best Story: Shirish Latkar & S. Manasvi (Itti Si Khushi); Saurabh Tewari & Shivani Shah (Megha Barsenge); Rajesh Joshi & Shabia Walia (Pushpa Impossible). Best Screenplay: Harneet Singh (Itti Si Khushi); Saurabh Tewari, Shashank Kunwar & Pranjal Saxena (Megha Barsenge); Rajesh Joshi & Shabia Walia (Pushpa Impossible). Best Dialogue: Arya Kumar Sharma & Kanika Dua (Itti Si Khushi); Shashank Kunwar & Pranjal Saxena (Megha Barsenge); Sneha Desai & Tushar Ishwer (Pushpa Impossible).

Wagle Ki Duniya - Nayi Peedhi Naye Kissey also remains a strong contender with significant nods in Screenplay and Storyfor S. Manasvi.

The film jury featured Aseem Arrora (screenwriter), Devashish Makhija (screenwriter- director), Hansal Mehta (director - producer), Mayank Shekhar (film critic - journalist), Vijay Maurya (screenwriter- lyricist) while the web jury included Charudutt Acharya (screenwriter- director),
Jayprad Desai (screenwriter- director), Shefali Bhushan (screenwriter- director), Suchin Mehrotra (Film critic - journalist) and Trishant Srivastava (screenwriter).

The jury for lyrics included Abhiruchi Chand (screenwriter-lyricist), Abhishek Chaubey (Director - Producer), Hussain Haidry (screenwriter- lyricist), Suanshu Khurana (film critic - journalist) and Vipin Mishra (Music Composer). Screenwriters Gajra Kottary, Usha Dixit and Vivek Bahl (screenwriter- producer) rounded off the TV jury.