About Us

The Film Critics Guild, India’s first registered association of film critics, is a geographically diverse cross-section of professionals who have come together to streamline the ethical and quality standards for film criticism in the country. With India’s most credible critics — representing print, radio, broadcast, and the web — at its helm, the Guild is dedicated to maintaining the highest level of integrity amongst its members and evaluating works of cinema that stand apart in their story telling.

OUR TEAM

Anupama Chopra is a film critic, book author and director of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star. She is also the founder and editor of the digital platform Film Companion,which offers a curated look at entertainment.

ANUPAMA CHOPRA

Film Companion

Chairperson, FCG

Stutee Ghosh, a film critic with nearly a decade of experience, has transitioned smoothly across various mediums – radio, television, print & digital. humorous and candid video reviews, she’s Head of Programming at Fever FM Mumbai .

STUTEE GHOSH

Fever FM

Vice-Chairperson, FCG

Shomini is an entertainment journalist for WION with over 14 years of experience in film writing. She has previously worked with News18.com and Zeenews.com . She reviews and writes about Hindi, English and Bengali films.

SHOMINI SEN

Wion

Secretary, FCG

Bharathi Pradhan is a Columnist, Critic & Author with over 50 years of experience. She currently reviews English & Hindi films for Lehren.com and is a Sunday columnist with The Telegraph.

BHARATHI PRADHAN

Lehren.com

Treasurer, FCG

Aditya Shrikrishna is a freelance film critic based in Chennai, India. He currently writes reviews for Mint Lounge and his writings have been published in The Hindu, Frontline, FiftyTwoDotIn, The New Indian Express, The Quint and Film Companion among others.

ADITYA SHRIKRISHNA

OTT Play

Ajay Brahmatmaj writes in hindi.ex film editor of Dainik Jagran.presently freelancing for different newspapers and web portals.has keen interest in history of hindi cinema.mapping lahore film industry of pre partion era (before 1947)

AJAY BRAHMATMAJ

CineMahaul (YouTube channel)

Akhil Arora covers entertainment & video games for Gadgets 360, covering series premieres, product & service launches and looking at movies from a global socio-political and feminist perspective. He also co-hosts the movie podcast The Long Take.

Akhil Arora

akhilarora.com

Anmol Jamwal is a content creator who shares his love for Indian films across languages on his YouTube channel, Having garnered an audience in the span of 5 years, with over 1 million subscribers, the channel has grown to form a community that discusses Indian films week in and week out.

ANMOL JAMWAL

Tried & Refused Productions (YouTube)

Anuj Kumar has been a part of The Hindu since 2005 and has written extensively on Hindi film trends, conducted interviews, and contributed nostalgia pieces. He has contributed to Housefull (Om Books), a collection of short essays on films made during the Golden Age of Hindi cinema.

ANUJ KUMAR

The Hindu

Arnab Banerjee has been a film critic and journalist for over 20 years, and is currently contributing film reviews to The Asian Age and BBC Radio. Besides reviewing films, both Hollywood and Bollywood, he also writes on music, does book reviews and covers art.

ARNAB BANERJEE

( IANS & BBC)Indpendent F

Aswathy Gopalakrishnan is a film critic who writes for Silverscreen.in. She also worked as a film programmer with MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in 2019.

Aswathy Gopalakrishnan

Indpendent Film Critic

I'm an Entertainment journalist, and I've been with The New Indian Express for five years reviewing everything from films, series, shorts, and documentaries. I concentrate on writing for South films, with frequent visits to Hindi and English cinema, apart from the occasional non-English foreign content.

Avinash Ramachandran

Avinash Ramachandran Talkies (YouTube)

Avinash Singh Pal has been in the media world for almost a decade. He is presently working as Senior Correspondent at Bollywood Bubble. Previously he has worked for Amar Ujala, Dainik Bhaskar and Hindustan and also been a news anchor and radio jockey in the past.

Avinash Singh Pal

Bollywood Bubble

Bhawana Somaaya has been a film critic and author for more than 40 years and has contributed columns to various publications. She is the Entertainment Editor at 92.7 Big FM Radio Channel. She was conferred with Padma Shri in 2017 and with an honorary Doctorate by Jagran Lake City University in 2021.

BHAWANA SOMAAYA

92.7 Big FM

Deepak Dua is a Hindi Film Critic for www.cineyatra.com. A freelance Film Journalist, who was associated with Hindi Film Monthly Filmi Kaliyan for a long time. His review of film Dangal is being taught as a chapter in Hindi text books of Class 8 in many schools.

DEEPAK DUA

Freelance Film Journalist & Critic

Gopinath Rajendran is an entertainment journalist and a film critic with over 7 years of experience. He is currently with The Hindu, Chennai and has previously worked with The New Indian Express.

Gopinath Rajendran

The Hindu

Ishita Sengupta is an independent film critic and culture writer with a keen focus on nonfiction work. Her writing is informed with gender, pop culture and politics and it has appeared in publications like The Indian Express, The Hindu Frontline, OTTplay among others.

Ishita Sengupta

Independent Film Critic

Keyur Seta is a film journalist with close to 15 years of experience. He has been covering Hindi cinema extensively for the last 12 years and Marathi cinema since seven years. In the past, he has worked with brands like Zee Entertainment, Cinestaan.com and The Times Of India.

KEYUR SETA

Bollywood Hungama

Kirubhakar Purushothaman is a Principal Correspondent with Indian Express and is based out of Chennai. He has been writing about Tamil cinema and OTT content for the past eight years across top media houses like India Today and Deccan Chronicle.

Kirubhakar Purushothaman

Indian Express

Kriti Tulsiani is an entertainment journalist and film critic for WION. She has previously worked with Times Now, ZoomTV and CNN News18 Digital. Apart from writing about cinema, she also covers lifestyle.

Kriti Tulsiani

WION

Kshitij Rawat did not unleash himself to the world as a film critic, but such are the vagaries of destiny. He has been reviewing films and TV shows since 2017. Growing up in different parts of the country, he has been exposed to a variety of cultures, something that informs his criticism. He currently works at Lifestyle Asia.

Kshitij Rawat

Lifestyle Asia

Kunal Guha is a film critic and features writer with Mumbai Mirror.

KUNAL GUHA

OTT Play

Manoj Kumar R, a seasoned film writer, began in digital journalism in 2010. He honed his skills at Deccan Herald, The Week, and The Indian Express, focusing on the South Indian film industry. Proficient in four South Indian languages, Manoj delves deep into regional cinema with insightful coverage. In 2023, he joined OTTplay.

MANOJ KUMAR

OTT Play, HT Media

Meena Iyer has been the Editor of Bombay Times and a film critic with the TOI group for two decades. Currently she is a freelance writer for Hindustan Times. She has also co-written two books with Rishi Kapoor titled Khullam Khulla (Harper Collins) and Sonu Sood titled I'm No Messiah (Penguin Random House).

Meena Iyer

Hindustan Times

Mihir Bhanage is a film critic and has been reviewing films, majorly Marathi, for Times of India since 2014. Besides reviews, he is also an entertainment correspondent for Pune Times. As a viewer, he loves to watch films across genres and languages. 

Mihir Bhanage

The Times of India

Monika Rawal is a media professional with 15+ years of experience and is currently working as the Sr Entertainment Editor at HT City, Hindustan Times. Besides her editorial contribution for the newspaper, she started reviewing Hindi language films in 2019.

Monika Rawal

Hindustan Times

Poulomi Das is an independent film journalist, critic, editor, and programmer. Her writing on film has appeared in national and international publications including NY Mag, MUBI Notebook, Film Comment, India Today, Firstpost, The Swaddle, The Wire, Film Companion, The Federal, Mint Lounge, and GQ among others.

Poulomi Das

The Federal

A film critic and columnist, Rahul Desai writes for Film Companion and OTTPlay. In his spare time, he runs a weekly movie podcast called IIF.

RAHUL DESAI

Film Companion

Renuka Vyavahare is a film critic with one of India’s leading dailies, The Times of India and also a senior entertainment journalist with Bombay Times. She has been reviewing films for the Times Group for over a decade now.

RENUKA VYAVAHARE

The Times of India

Rohan Naahar is based out of New Delhi, India, and has been reviewing films and television shows for over a decade. He has written for the Hindustan Times and currently writes for the Indian Express.

ROHAN NAAHAR

The Indian Express

Rohit Khilnani is an entertainment journalist with close to two decades of experience. He is the Entertainment Editor for the NDTV Group. He is now exploring the digital media along with television. He reviews films for NDTV24X7.

ROHIT KHILNANI

Bollywood Hungama

Rohit Vats has been a journalist and film critic for over a decade now. He has been reviewing Hindi and Hollywood films primarily. Currently, he is working with DNA.

ROHIT VATS

DNA

Sachin Chatte is a film critic based in Goa and has been writing about cinema for close to 30 years. He has been reviewing films for The Navhind Times, Goa for 25 years and occasionally contributes to other publications.

SACHIN CHATTE

The Navhind Times, Goa

Saibal Chatterjee is an independent film critic based in Delhi. His weekly reviews appear on www.ndtv.com. He also writes on cinema for The Tribune and The Gulf Today newspapers.

SAIBAL CHATTERJEE

NDTV

Sangeetha Devi Dundoo is a senior Assistant Editor/Special Correspondent with The Hindu, Hyderabad, and a primary film critic for Telugu cinema. Her 18 years of work have involved 12 years with The Hindu & nearly six years with The Times of India Hyderabad.

SANGEETHA DEVI

The Hindu

Sanyukta Thakare is a film journalist & critic turned content creator who discusses the cultural and social impacts of cinema. Currently, she works at Mashable India, and also covers anime, Korean drama and other Western content. Previously, she has worked for The Free Press Journal and DNA.

Sanyukta Thakare

Mashable India

Shilajit Mitra is a film journalist and critic with The Hindu. Based in Mumbai, he was formerly with The New Indian Express and the Times Now and Zoom websites.

Shilajit Mitra

The Hindu

Shubhra Gupta is Film Critic and Columnist with The Indian Express.

SHUBHRA GUPTA

The Indian Express

Sonal Pandya is the Associate Producer for Times Now and Zoom, and earlier worked at Hindustan Times, and Cinestaan.com as deputy editor. Prior to becoming a film journalist, she worked as a CG artist and digital compositor in the animation industry.

Sonal Pandya

Times Now & Zoom

Srinivasa Ramanujam is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Hindu, Chennai, and a primary film critic for Tamil cinema. His 15+ years of work experience includes being associated extensively The Hindu, The Times of India (Chennai), The Week, ET MadrasPlus and ChennaiOnline.

Srinivasa Ramanujam

The Hindu

Srivathsan Nadadhur is a senior entertainment journalist with over 11 years of media experience who writes about movies, literature, culture, and lifestyle and has contributed to The Hindu, Times of India, Deccan Herald, The News Minute and Film Companion in the past.

Srivathsan Nadadhur

South First, Friday Wall

Working as a journalist with The Hindu since 2012. Writing reviews of Malayalam films weekly, longer pieces on Malayalam cinema and the industry as a whole, covering international film festivals including IFFK and IFFI.

S.R. Praveen

The Hindu

Sucharita Tyagi is a prominent film critic with a dedicated fanbase who is best known for her popular movie reviews on YouTube. A unique voice, she reviews films with honesty and passion through a contemporary lens, breaking down complex issues in a way that is relatable and easy to understand.

SUCHARITA TYAGI

Independent Film Critic

Sudhir Srinivasan is the Entertainment Editor of the New Indian Express. He has previously written for The Hindu and The Times of India. He is known for his writing on South cinema, especially Tamil Films.

SUDHIR SRINIVASAN

The New Indian Express

Suhani Singh is a Senior Associate Editor with India Today magazine. Apart from covering entertainment and culture beats for print, she reviews films for India Today's digital arm intoday.in and writes a fortnightly column for Mail Today.

SUHANI SINGH

India Today

Mumbai-born and based Sukanya Verma is a senior film critic, music critic, columnist, features writer, quiz host and columnist with rediff.com for the last 19 years. From 2016, she contributes cinema columns to The Hindu as well.

SUKANYA VERMA

rediff.com

Sukhpreet Kahlon works as a freelance curator for film festivals. Her writing concentrates on film history, independent films and Punjabi cinema.

Sukhpreet Kahlon

Indian Express Digital

Suparna Sharma is a senior film critic and freelance journalist. She currently writes for The Week and Al Jazeera. Previously she was writing on films for Rolling Stone magazine and was the Resident Editor of The Asian Age, New Delhi.

SUPARNA SHARMA

Rolling Stone

Tanul Thakur is a National Award-winning film critic and an independent journalist. A film critic for The Wire, he's written features and opinion pieces for The Caravan, Open, Fountain Ink, GQ, and Yahoo! India.

TANUL THAKUR

Outlook

Tatsam Mukherjee has been a New Delhi-based film journalist since 2016. Having contributed reviews to Firstpost, News9, GQ India etc, his byline has also appeared in the likes of Slate, Al Jazeera English, Film Companion among other publications

TATSAM MUKHERJEE

The Wire

Uday Bhatia is Film Editor with Mint Lounge in Mumbai. He was previously with Time Out Delhi and The Sunday Guardian. His work has appeared in GQ, The Caravan, Indian Quarterly and other publications.

UDAY BHATIA

Mint Lounge

Udita Jhunjhunwala has more than 25 years of experience as a film critic with national publications such as Mid-Day, Hindustan Times, Mint, Scroll.in. Her interviews, opinion pieces and industry insights have also appeared in moneycontrol.com, AFP, The Hindu, Vogue, Variety & Screen International.

UDITA JHUNJHUNWALA

Mint, Scroll.in

Upma Singh is a journalist with 17 years of experience in the field of entertainment and feature journalism. She has worked with Amar Ujala and Dainik Bhaskar , leading national hindi newspapers before joining Navbharat Times. She is an assistant editor at Navbharat Times, Mumbai.

Upma Singh

Navbharat Times

Vishal Menon is the editor of Film Companion South. He is a film critic and has also worked with The Hindu, before which he was a correspondent with Reuters News. He writes about Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi cinema.

VISHAL MENON

Film Companion

THE CRITICS' CHOICE AWARDS (2024)

Winners are out now.

Short Film Winners

Web Series Winners

Feature Film Winners

THE CRITICS' CHOICE AWARDS (2023)

Winners are out now.

Web Series Winners

Feature Film Winners

Extraordinary Contribution to Cinema Award

THE CRITICS' CHOICE AWARDS (2022)

Since 2018, the Film Critics Guild and Motion Content Group in collaboration with Vistas Media Capital have persevered to showcase, recognise and reward the best stories coming out of India's burgeoning content landscape. Our aim has unswervingly remained the championing of short films, web series and feature films all on the same platform across all Indian languages, through an unbiased, credible, transparent process that lauds merit, talent and creativity above all else.

In our fourth edition, we awarded content across 23 categories, in a glorious ceremony that took place in Mumbai in March 2022. The Awards ceremony brought together some of India's most talented and sought after actors, directors, producers, writers and technicians, all under the same roof.

You can watch the ceremony here

Short Film Winners


Series Winners


Feature Film Winners

Extraordinary Contribution to Cinema Award

The Critics' Choice Awards (2021)

A show on a mafia family who begin plotting against each other or another that investigates the lives and trials of honest police officers. A series that delves deep into the pre-IIT prep sweat shops or one where a young man learns the quirks of living in a small town. The thriving digital space in India has something for everyone. Comedians, directors, writers, and box office ruling actors have all joined this territory for its promise. Currently, series and short films aren’t considered stepping stones anymore, they are a strong foundation to a space that is the new rage.

This year, India’s most credible film critics, in partnership with Motion Content Group, laud the inventiveness of this growing medium through the Critics’ Choice Awards. In our first edition, the awards recognized short films, in the second we enhanced the awards to include the exciting and burgeoning space of web series and episodic content. This year we aim to continue unearthing and honoring talent from this flourishing space. With a transparent process to identify worthy winners, these awards aim to reward the immense creativity of this industry.

The Awards show took place virtually on 14th February, 2021. Watch it here

Short Film Winners


Series Winners


Feature Film Winners

   The Critics' Choice Film Awards (2020)

The Film Critics Guild and Motion Content Group in collaboration with Vistas Media Capital presents the second edition of the ‘Critics' Choice Film Awards’- a platform to celebrate diversity and flair in Indian films. It is a space to reward and recognize creativity, ingenuity and quality. As a pan-India award, the Critics’ Choice Film Awards will represent the diverse range of film making in the country. It will honor talent and display the rich culture of films across languages, styles and themes. The winners will be selected based on a transparent and bias-free process that is audited to keep it credible. The winners of the Critics’ Choice Film Awards are out! Click Here to watch the India's first virtual awards show.

WINNERS

   The Critics' Choice Shorts And Series Awards (2019)

A show on the murky world of cricket or another that looks into the life and death of India's most well known freedom fighter. A series that delves deep into the pre-IIT prep sweat shops or a romantic series that throws light on the struggles of a long distance relationship. The thriving digital space in India has something for everyone. Comedians, directors, writers and box office ruling actors have all joined this territory for its promise. Currently, series and short films aren't considered stepping stones anymore, they are a strong foundation to a space that is the new rage.

This year, India's most credible film critics, in partnership with Motion Content Group, laud the inventiveness of this growing medium through the Critics' Choice Shorts and Series Awards. In our first edition, the awards recognized short films and this year the awards have been enhanced to include the exciting and burgeoning space of web series and episodic content. With a transparent process to identify worthy winners, these awards aim to reward the immense creativity of this industry. The awards will be held in Mumbai in December 2019.


Short Film Winners


Series Winners

The Critics' Choice Film Awards (2019)

Exceptional talent. Fantastic stories. Outstanding films.

The first edition of the Critics' Choice Film Awards intends to be a glorious celebration of Indian cinema.

The Film Critic's Guild in collaboration with the Motion Content Group presents the first ever ‘Critics' Choice Film Awards’- A platform where a cross-section of India's most credible critic's will choose the winners in a transparent and bias-free process.

The Critics' Choice Film Awards is a platform to celebrate diversity and flair in Indian films. It is a space to reward and recognise creativity, ingenuity and quality. As a pan-India award, the Critic' s Choice Film Awards will represent the diverse range of filmmaking in the country. It will honour talent and display the rich culture of films across languages, styles and themes.

The Critics' Choice Film Awards were held in Mumbai on 21st April 2019.


http://www.criticschoicefilmawards.in/

Winners of the Critics' Choice Film Awards 2019

Hindi

   The Critics' Choice Short Film Awards (2018)

Steven Spielberg’s Amblin’ or Martin Scorsese’s The Big Shave. Lynne Ramsay’s Gasman or Barry Jenkins’ My Josephine. Neeraj Ghaywan’s Juice and Karthik Subbaraj’s Kaatchipizhai. Today, with democratised media and a growing demand for crisper content on personal devices, short films are both a rage and stepping stone.

The Critics' Choice Short Film Awards are one of a kind. India’s most credible film critics join hands with the Motion Content Group to laud the inventiveness of this growing medium. With a transparent process to identify worthy winners, these awards aim to recognise the immense creativity of this industry. The awards were held in Mumbai on 15 December 2018

Our Membership

Membership Guidelines

  • People are either invited into the group,or must apply for membership.
  • The Vetting Committee may at its sole discretion levy an entrance membership fee and/or an annual membership fee.
  • To be considered for membership, applicants must meet the following guidelines, and must request recommendation from a Critics' Association member. The member recommending the applicant must ensure that the applicant fits the membership and ethical criteria.
  • A reviewer must have a minimum of four (4) years of experience in current, regular film criticism to be considered eligible for membership.
  • A reviewer must be an adult, over the age of 21 years.
  • A reviewer must submit an attested copy of his/her PAN Card/Aadhar card/Residence proof.
  • Each publication/Media outlet must be approved by the vetting committiee.
  • There is no limit on active members from any single publication/media outlet.
  • When an active member loses affiliation at a qualifying publication, his or her successor shall not be automatically granted membership but must apply to the group as a prospective new member.
  • Each member must watch and critque atleast 25 current feature length motion picture in twelve month period. This includes theatrical releases,new film screened at festivals and first run multi-platform release (such as DVD , streaming video or other format not yet developed). It does not include re-releases of older films or previous theatrical releases
  • Critquies must be distributed via a mass medium to the movie-going public(print,radio,television or internet).Social media post will not be accepted as reviews.However , reviewer who only review on youtube,will be considered on a case-to-case basis.
  • Active freelance status may be conferred upon members in good standing (whose contribution to film criticism exceeds 15+ years), at the sole discretion of the Indian Film Critic's' Association ("IFCA") Vetting Committee, members who have been separated from their media outlet/publication- either by termination of job or termination of publication- who remain professional film critic's, continuing to publish or post reviews of current movies on a regular, paying basis.
  • Only 1 review per film shall be counted. Think pieces, reprinted or syndicated reviews, with minor or no changes, shall not be considered separately.
  • Members are expected to keep track of their reviews, including movie titles, date and length. - Online outlets must have, at minimum, 5,000 unique visits per month and should have been active for at least a year to qualify for the Critic's association criteria.
  • Only critics residing and working in India qualify for membership.
  • Members shall not be currently working full-time or part-time for a production company or filmmaker, or be employed by a film production or filmmaking concern.
* Please note that membership to the Indian Film Critics' Association is at the discretion of the vetting committee.
* Membership shall be given in the name of one single person which shall be non-transferable. In the event of death of a member, the Vetting Committee shall have a sole right to take a decision on the application of his/her natural heir for transferring membership.

ETHICAL GUIDELINES

  • - Members shall declare any conflict of interest (working with members of the film fraternity whose films one is reviewing, consulting on scripts, receiving payments for favourable reviews/social media posts etc.) to the managing committee as soon as the commitment happens.
  • AGREE DISAGREE

  • - Members shall be personally liable for all acts and deeds.
  • AGREE DISAGREE

  • - Members shall not plagiarise material, defined as deliberately copying the work of others and claiming it as your own, with no attribution.
  • AGREE DISAGREE

  • -Members shall not steal goods or services from studio representatives, theatres or other IFCA members.
  • AGREE DISAGREE

  • -The objects of the IFCA are of prime importance. Members must bear in mind the object of IFCA and abide by the IFCA Bye Laws at all times.
  • AGREE DISAGREE

  • - Members shall not use their IFCA membership to demand special treatment (this includes demanding promotional items for personal use, demanding extra screening passes or demanding free passes to films that have already opened)
  • AGREE DISAGREE

  • - Members shall not allow gifts or favors to influence the content of reviews.
  • AGREE DISAGREE

  • - Members shall not review films they have not seen.
  • AGREE DISAGREE

  • - Members shall not review films that they have walked out of or turned off without revealing that they did not see them in their entirety.
  • AGREE DISAGREE

  • - Members shall not review films in which they have a creative or financial interest.
  • AGREE DISAGREE

  • -Members shall not threaten or harass artists, studio representatives, theatre owners/employees or other IFCA members.
  • AGREE DISAGREE

  • - Members shall not falsify press credentials or professional associations.
  • AGREE DISAGREE

  • -Members shall not falsely claim to be an official representative of the IFCA.
  • AGREE DISAGREE

  • - Members shall not indulge in unauthorised recording of theatrical releases or indulge in practices such as posting "live-tweet reviews" while watching a film. Films must be reviewed in their entirety.
  • AGREE DISAGREE

  • - All written reviews must be professionally edited and presented. Writers should check factual information for accuracy before printing or posting.
  • AGREE DISAGREE

  • - Member shall not indulge in unauthorised copying and/or sale of studio screeners, including (but not limited to) internet distribution.
  • AGREE DISAGREE

  • - Members shall not violate studio-imposed embargo on when reviews may be published, broadcast or posted.
  • AGREE DISAGREE

  • -If members are not allowed to see a film in time for review, they are not obligated to promote or publicise that film in any way.
  • AGREE DISAGREE

Members who have been previously employed - financially or as consultants- with a Filmmaking company/ Film festival(s)/Publishing house (working on biographies or film-related books) kindly share those details here:
I, the undersigned do hereby declare that all the information furnished above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge. I further state that I have understood the terms of Membership and that I shall adhere and agree and undertake to observe and abide to the Ethical guidelines and the Bye-Laws set by the Indian Film Critics' Association. I understand that if the information provided by me is proven to be false, or if I flout any of the ethical guidelines, membership to the Association shall be terminated. I further agree that I shall make myself liable for such action as the Vetting Committee may take for any breach committed by me of any rules/guidelines of IFCA.

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