Highlights
- Aryan Khan picked up two honours at the 7th Screenwriters Association Awards for The Ba**ds of Bollywood
- The Netflix series won Best Screenplay and Best Dialogue in the Web Comedy/Musical/Romance category
- Stolen, Black Warrant and Paatal Lok – Season 2 also featured prominently among the winners
Aryan Khan’s series converts nominations into wins
Aryan Khan and The Ba**ds of Bollywood emerged among the biggest success stories at the 7th Screenwriters Association Awards, with the series turning both of its nominations into victories.
The Netflix satire secured Best Dialogue in the Web Comedy/Musical/Romance category, while Aryan shared the Best Screenplay honour with co-writers Bilal Siddiqi and Manav Chauhan.
The project’s writing team reflected on the origins of the show during the ceremony. Siddiqi said the trio had set out to create something they themselves found funny, hoping audiences would respond in the same way.
Manav Chauhan also offered a humorous take on the writing process, comparing a writers’ room to a courtroom where a writer can play every role at once.
Writers take centre stage at the annual awards
The SWA Awards brought together screenwriters and creators from film, streaming platforms, television and music to recognise writing across the industry.
SWA General Secretary Raj Shekhar opened the evening with a remark on storytelling and creativity, saying he was pleased to see “living, breathing, whole human beings” being celebrated.
Siddhant Makkar, Chairperson of SWA Awards 2026, revealed the scale of this year’s selection process. Jury members reviewed nearly 700 songs, more than 80 television shows, close to 100 web series and over 130 feature films.
Stolen and web dramas also have a strong night
Feature categories saw Stolen emerge as another major winner. Karan Tejpal, Gaurav Dhingra and Swapnil Salkar “Agadbumb” won both Best Story and Best Screenplay for the thriller.
Reshu Nath picked up the Best Dialogue honour in the feature film category for Haq.
In web drama, Smita Singh won Best Story for Khauf, while Sudip Sharma, Abhishek Banerjee, Rahul Kanojia and Tamal Sen secured Best Screenplay for Paatal Lok – Season 2. Satyanshu Singh and Arkesh Ajay won Best Dialogue for Black Warrant.
Gulzar and debut talent recognised
Elsewhere, Anvita Dutt won Best Lyrics for TV/Web for 'Naseeba' from Black Warrant. Veteran lyricist Gulzar took home Best Lyrics in the feature film category for 'Hum Fanaa' from Gustaakh Ishq, with Vishal Bhardwaj accepting the award on his behalf.
Aranya Sahay won the Best Debut writer/director honour for Humans in the Loop.
The evening concluded with SWA President Charudutt Acharya acknowledging current challenges within the industry and reaffirming support for writers and creators.
