Filmfare Awards: Lesser Known Facts

The 60th Britannia Filmfare Awards 2014 will be held on January 31, 2015 in Mumbai. Recognising the best talent in the industry, the 60th Britannia Filmfare Awards is all set to roll out the red carpet. One of the most prestigious awards in the country, the Filmfare Awards was first introduced in 1954. Let's take a look at few fun facts about the glamorous Award show.

The first Filmfare Award ceremony was held on March 21, 1954. One of the world's most popular stars, Gregory Peck, was invited as the guest of honor. The event had been organised at Metro Theatre in Mumbai. However due to a flight delay from Colombo, he could not make it to the event. But, he later attended the banquet that was arranged at the Willingdon Sports Club.

Filmfare was not the first name that had come up for the Awards. It was earlier supposed to be called, 'The Clares Awards' after the Times of India film critic - Clare Mendonca. However, only 5 awards were presented in 1954. The categories were - Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actor (Female), and Best Music Director.

Vyajayanthimala refused to accept 'Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award' for Devdas because she believed that she was the lead actress in the film and not Suchitra Sen. Surprisingly, the biggest blockbuster hit in the history of Bollywood - Sholay, won only one Filmfare Award in 1975 and that too for Best Editing.

Black (2005) has won the maximum number of Filmfare awards in a single year. It won 11 Awards under the Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Critics Award Best Movie, Best Actor (Critics' Choice), Best Actress (Critics' Choice), Best Supporting Actress, Best Editing, Best Cinematography and Best Background Score categories. Next in line is the film, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Devdas. Both the movies have won 10 awards each.

Winners of the year 1985 were announced in 1986. But the film industry went on a strike in 1986. Thus the award ceremony was postponed to 1987. The winners were finally awarded on January 28, 1987. The Filmfare Awards were not organised in the years, 1987 and 88. Do Bigha Zameen was the first movie to win Filmfare Award For Best Film. Bimal Roy won the first Filmfare Award under the Best Director category, for the film, Do Bigha Zameen.

The trophies, now known as 'The Black Lady' are made of bronze and hence are quite heavy. During the 25th year of Filmfare Awards, the statue was made of silver. During the 50th year of its celebration, the trophy was made of gold. Few more changes have been made to the trophy to give it a 3-D look and feel.