The 7th edition of the Screenwriters Association (SWA) Awards was held in Mumbai on Saturday, May 23, 2026, recognising outstanding writing across Indian films, web series and television released in 2025. Aryan Khan's directorial debut The Ba***ds of Bollywood and the Netflix prison drama Black Warrant emerged as the night's biggest winners, while the gritty thriller Stolen also picked up multiple trophies during the evening.
Who attended
According to The Hollywood Reporter India, the ceremony drew a wide turnout of filmmakers including Sooraj Barjatya, Sriram Raghavan, Shoojit Sircar, Ashutosh Gowariker, Sujoy Ghosh, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Ramesh Sippy, Kiran Rao, R. Balki, Bejoy Nambiar, Onir, Siddharth Roy Kapur and Alankrita Shrivastava. Filmmaker Aanand L. Rai served as a presenter alongside actor-filmmaker Sachin Pilgaonkar, handing out trophies across multiple categories during the program.
Aryan Khan's writing sweep
As reported by Outlook, Aryan Khan shared Best Dialogue and Best Screenplay honours for The Ba***ds of Bollywood with co-writers Bilal Siddiqi and Manav Chauhan. The Netflix series converted both of its nominations into wins in the Web Comedy/Musical/Romance category, marking a strong industry endorsement for the satire of the Hindi film business.
Other notable winners
Per DNA India, Aranya Sahay won Best Feature Film Debut for Humans in the Loop, while Black Warrant and Stolen picked up wins in their respective categories. The much-discussed feature Dhurandhar went home empty-handed despite multiple nominations across the writing categories.
A legend recognised
Veteran poet and lyricist Gulzar was awarded Best Lyrics (Feature Film) for the song 'Hum Fanaa' from Gustaakh Ishq. The trophy was accepted in his absence by filmmaker-composer Vishal Bhardwaj. The 7th SWA Awards spanned 15 categories covering film, OTT and television writing, and the spread of honours pointed to streaming platforms continuing to anchor much of the year's most-celebrated Indian screenwriting work and creative risk-taking.
