20th Filmfare Awards

The 20th Filmfare Awards were held in 1973, awarding the films made in 1972.

Amar Prem and Be-Imaan led the ceremony with 8 nominations, followed by Shor with 7 nominations and Pakeezah with 5 nominations.

Be-Imaan won 7 awards, including Best Film, Best Director (for Sohanlal Kanwar), Best Actor (for Manoj Kumar) and Best Supporting Actor (for Pran), thus becoming the most-awarded film at the ceremony.

Rajesh Khanna received dual nominations for Best Actor for his performances in Amar Prem and Dushmun, but lost to Manoj Kumar who won the award for Be-Imaan.

At the ceremony, Meena Kumari earned a then record-setting twelfth and final nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her performance in the period musical romantic drama Pakeezah after her death in March 1972. Despite being highly favored to win the award, she controversially lost the award to Hema Malini who won her first and only award in the category for her comic dual role in the comedy-drama Seeta Aur Geeta.

Pran, who won Best Supporting Actor for Be-Imaan refused to accept the award, on the grounds that the Best Music Director award should have gone to Ghulam Mohammed for Pakeezah, and not Shankar-Jaikishan for Be-Imaan.

Best Film
 Be-Imaan 
 * Anubhav
 * Pakeezah

Best Director
 Sohanlal Kanwar – Be-Imaan 
 * Kamal Amrohi – Pakeezah
 * Manoj Kumar – Shor

Best Actor
 Manoj Kumar – Be-Imaan 
 * Rajesh Khanna – Amar Prem
 * Rajesh Khanna – Dushmun

Best Actress
 Hema Malini – Seeta Aur Geeta 
 * Meena Kumari – Pakeezah
 * Raakhee – Aankhon Aankhon Mein

Best Supporting Actor
 Pran – Be-Imaan 
 * Premnath – Shor

Best Supporting Actress
 Zeenat Aman – Hare Rama Hare Krishna 
 * Bindu – Dastaan
 * Nazima – Be-Imaan

Best Comic Actor
 Paintal – Bawarchi 
 * Jagdeep – Bhai Ho To Aisa
 * Mehmood – Bombay To Goa

Best Story
 Anubhav – Basu Chatterjee 
 * Shor – Manoj Kumar

Best Screenplay
 Amar Prem – Arabinda Mukhopadhyay  

Best Dialogue
 Amar Prem – Ramesh Pant  

Best Music Director
 Be-Imaan – Shankar–Jaikishan 
 * Amar Prem – R. D. Burman
 * Pakeezah – Ghulam Mohammed
 * Shor – Laxmikant–Pyarelal

Best Lyricist
 Be-Imaan – Verma Malik for Jai Bolo Be-Imaan Ki 
 * Amar Prem – Anand Bakshi for Chingari Koi Bhadke
 * Shor – Santosh Anand for Ek Pyaar Ka Nagma Hai

Best Playback Singer, Male
 Be-Imaan – Mukesh for Jai Bolo Be-Imaan Ki 
 * Amar Prem – Kishore Kumar for Chingari Koi Bhadke
 * Shor – Mukesh for Ek Pyaar Ka Nagma Hai

Best Playback Singer, Female
 Hare Rama Hare Krishna – Asha Bhosle for Dum Maro Dum 
 * Lal Patthar – Asha Bhosle for Suni Suni
 * Lalkaar – Asha Bhosle for Maine Kahan Na Na Na

Best Art Direction
 Pakeezah 

Best Cinematography
 Seeta Aur Geeta 

Best Editing
 Shor 

Best Sound
 Amar Prem 

Best Film
 Maya Darpan 

Best Documentary
 Nine Months to Freedom 

Controversy
Meena Kumari not winning an award for her performance in Pakeezah stirred controversy at the 20th Filmfare Awards. Filmfare, however, defended their decision by stating that according to their rules, posthumous awards were not allowed then; Filmfare editor B. K. Karanjia said both Ghulam Mohammad (the music director of Pakeezah) and Josef Wirsching (cinematographer) lost for the same reason.

Years later, in an interview, veteran actress Rakhee Gulzar revealed that initially she was offered the award for Best actress which she declined, as she considered her performance to be mediocre as earlier, she was devoid of the award for her performance in Sharmilee.

Biggest Winners

 *  Be-Imaan – 7/8
 *  Amar Prem – 3/8
 *  Seeta Aur Geeta – 2/2
 *  Hare Rama Hare Krishna – 2/2
 * Shor – 1/7
 * Pakeezah – 1/5