In which year were the Filmfare Awards instituted?

The correct answer is A, the Black Lady. The Filmfare statuette, designed by the sculptor N. G. Pansare, shows a female figure and the dark finish gave it its popular name, which the magazine itself uses. Option B, the Golden Lotus or Swarna Kamal, is wrong because that is the trophy of the National Film Awards, given by the Government of India for the Best Feature Film. Option C, the Golden Peacock or Swarna Mayur, belongs to the International Film Festival of India and goes to the best film of its international competition. Option D, the Silver Lion, is not an Indian award at all; the Golden Lion is the top prize of the Venice Film Festival. Fixing one trophy to one giver removes most of the confusion in this topic.

The correct answer is B, Clare Awards. At their start in 1954 the awards carried the name of Clare Mendonca, a critic associated with The Times of India, and only later did they come to be called the Filmfare Awards after the magazine. Option A, Phalke Awards, is wrong; the Dadasaheb Phalke Award is a government honour instituted in 1969 and presented with the National Film Awards. Option C, Times Awards, is a plausible invention because the magazine belongs to The Times Group, but the awards were never called that. Option D, Bombay Film Awards, is wrong as well and is offered only because the first ceremony was held in Bombay. This is a favourite question precisely because the earlier name is unexpected, so store the name Clare Mendonca with it.

The correct answer is B, Do Bigha Zamin. Bimal Roy's film about a farmer who goes to Calcutta to pull a rickshaw took the first Filmfare Award for Best Film, and Bimal Roy took the first award for Best Direction for the same film. Option A, Baiju Bawra, is the closest distractor, because Meena Kumari won the first Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her role in it. Option C, Mother India, came later and is remembered instead as the first Indian film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Option D, Awara, directed by Raj Kapoor, won no Filmfare Award for Best Film. Remember the first set together: Do Bigha Zamin for film and direction, Dilip Kumar for Daag, and Meena Kumari for Baiju Bawra.

The correct answer is C, Meena Kumari. She received the first Filmfare Award for Best Actress for Baiju Bawra, and the first Best Actor award of the same year went to Dilip Kumar for Daag. Option A, Nargis, is wrong for the first award, though she is strongly associated with the period through Mother India and later received the Padma Shri. Option B, Madhubala, won no Filmfare Award for Best Actress, which surprises students and makes her a useful distractor. Option D, Nutan, belongs to a slightly later phase and won several Filmfare awards, but not the first one. The pair to memorise is Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari as the first acting winners, both honoured at the ceremony of 1954 for films of 1953 and 1952.

The correct answer is A, 1952. The first edition was organised on behalf of the Government of India and travelled through Bombay, Madras, Delhi, Calcutta and Trivandrum, which made it the first international film festival held anywhere in Asia. Option B, 1954, is the year the Filmfare Awards and the National Film Awards began, so it is the most tempting wrong choice. Option C, 1969, is the year of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Option D, 1975, is offered because the festival changed its form more than once in its early decades, moving between competitive and non-competitive editions. A second fact goes with 1952: the festival is accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations, written as FIAPF, which is what permits its competitive section.