Holding a premier status as the most respected recognition for the “Architects of the Screen”, the 7th edition of the SWA (Screenwriters Association) Awards has unveiled its full list of nominations. The awards will celebrate 2025’s groundbreaking films, series and television shows that pushed the envelope of storytelling at a gala ceremony held on May 23.
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The SWA Awards saw high-profile names from the industry including Anurag Basu, Aditya Dhar, Sudeep Sharma and debutant Aryan Khan receiving major nominations across categories.
In the web comedy/musical/romance segment, Aryan Khan’s debut, The Ba**ads of Bollywood has achieved a significant footprint with three nominations in Best Story, Best Screenplay (co-written with Bilal Siddiqui and Manav Chauhan) and Best Dialogue written by Khan.
The web drama category is a clash of giants. Writers who received nominations in the story, screenplay and dialogue categories include Satyanshu Singh and Arkesh Ajay (Black Warrant), Sudeep Sharma, Abhishek Banerjee, Rahul Kanojia, and Tamal Sen (Paatal Lok: Season 2), and Smita Singh (Khauff).
He joins Simab Hashmi, Dhruv Narang and Mahesh Mathai for Real Kashmir Football Club. Notably, Sumit Arora has received a Best Dialogue nomination for The Family Man: Season 3, while Pushkar Sunil Mahabal is in the running for Black, White & Gray – Love Kills in the story and screenplay category.
Screenwriter Smita Singh has emerged as this year’s most nominated person with 4 nominations. Apart from his sweep for the Khauff series, he has also been nominated in the feature film category for his work on the screenplay. Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders.
In the feature film wing, the Best Debut nominations include a diverse range of voices, including Rahul Badwelkar and Shazia Iqbal (beats 2), Ankur Singla (gich pitch), Aranya Sahay (man in the loop), and for Tisca Chopra and Sanjay Chopra sister love.
Anurag Basu leads feature film list Metro…in Dino’s and critically acclaimed stolen. Basu has been nominated in all three major categories Metro…in Dino’sSharing the dialogue nomination with Sandeep Srivastava and Samrat Chakraborty. For stolenThe team of Karan Tejpal, Gaurav Dhingra and Swapnil Salkar “Agadabamb” are recognized for story and screenplay, while Shubham Vardhan and Swapnil Salkar “Agadabamb” are nominated for dialogues.
Aditya Dhar has received two nominations (screenplay and dialogue) for his work stalwartWhile Varun Grover has got a double appearance with Story nomination Superboys of Malegaon And a dialogue node was shared with Shoaib Zulfi Nazir.
The song category celebrates the enduring talent of the iconic voices of Indian cinema. Javed Akhtar has been nominated forguy‘ (Superboys of Malegaon), with Gulzar’ forwe perish‘ (cheeky love), while last year’s winner Irshad Kamil has returned with a nomination for ‘.stray ember‘ (in love with you).
In testament to their prolific output, three lyricists lead the pack with double nominations: ‘For Amitabh Bhattacharya’Good for nothing‘ (stars on the ground) And ‘as per rules‘ (Metro…in Dino’s); Juno for bothwatch the show‘ And ‘generator song‘ (Panchayat: Season 4); And for Anvita Dutt’Naseeba‘ And ‘pug witch rakhi da‘ (Black Warrant). The latter two have been nominated in the Best Song (TV/Web) category.
In the television wing, Itti Si Khushi, Megha Barsange and Pushpa Impossible are the standout titles receiving nominations in all the three main categories. Best Story: Shirish Latkar and S. Manasvi (so much happiness); Saurabh Tiwari and Shivani Shah (Megha Barsenj); Rajesh Joshi and Shabia Walia (Pushpa Impossible). Best Screenplay: Harneet Singh (Itti Si Khushi); Saurabh Tiwari, Shashank Kunwar and Pranjal Saxena (Megha Barsenge); Rajesh Joshi and Shabia Walia (Pushpa Impossible). Best Dialogues: Arya Kumar Sharma and Kanika Dua (Itti Si Khushi); Shashank Kunwar and Pranjal Saxena (Megha Barsenj); Sneha Desai and Tushar Eshwar (Pushpa Impossible).
Wagle’s Duniya-Nayi Generation Naye Kisse Bhi remains a strong contender with S Manasvi making significant contributions to the script and story.
The film jury comprised Aseem Arora (screenwriter), Devashish Makhija (screenwriter-director), Hansal Mehta (director-producer), Mayank Shekhar (film critic-journalist), Vijay Maurya (screenwriter-lyricist), while the web jury comprised Charudatt Acharya (screenwriter-director).
Jaiprad Desai (screenwriter-director), Shefali Bhushan (screenwriter-director), Suchin Mehrotra (film critic-journalist) and Trishant Srivastava (screenwriter).
The jury for the song included Abhiruchi Chand (screenwriter-lyricist), Abhishek Chaubey (director-producer), Hussain Hydari (screenwriter-lyricist), Suanshu Khurana (film critic-journalist) and Vipin Mishra (music composer). Screenwriter Gajra Kotari, Usha Dixit and Vivek Bahl (screenwriter-producer) joined the TV jury.
