Alia Bhatt breaks Nutan, Kajol's record for most Best Actress Filmfare Awards; internet unsure: 'She really that good?'

Alia Bhatt now holds the record for most Best Actress wins, beating legends like Nutan, Kajol, Meena Kumari, and Vidya Balan.

At the 70th Filmfare Awards held on Saturday, even as Laapataa Ladies dominated with a record 13 awards, the most by a film ever, the Kiran Rao directorial drew a blank in the acting categories. There, Alia Bhatt, Abhishek Bachchan, and Kartik Aaryan took home the big awards. Alia’s win for Jigra was historic, to say the least, as it marked her sixth Best Actress Filmfare Award, which is a new record now. The actor beat Kajol and Nutan for the record, both of whom had won five Best Actress awards in their illustrious careers. And while it has been a cause for celebration, many on social media are debating if it’s an accurate representation of her talent.

Alia Bhatt has six Best Actress Filmfare Awards, one more than Nutan and Kajol.

Alia Bhatt holds record for most Best Actress wins

With her Jigra win, Alia now has 6 Best Actress trophies. She previously won for Udta Punjab, Raazi, Gully Boy, Gangubai Kathiawadi, and Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. This is also her 3rd win in a row. The record for most Best Actress wins was held by Meena Kumari for the longest time after she won her 4th award in the category for Kaajal in 1966. Nutan broke the record with her 5th win – for Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki – in 1979. Later, Kajol equalled her with her 5th win (My Name Is Khan in 2011).

Vidya Balan and Madhuri Dixit also have four Best Actress trophies each, while Vyjayanthimala, Jaya Bachchan, and Shabana Azmi have three each.

The internet is divided

The internet, however, feels that some of Alia’s wins have not been well-deserved, and her predecessors had better performances that were not rewarded. On Reddit, one person complained, “They received so much backlash for giving her award back to back, and I thought this year they won’t give her since that movie was not that good, and some new person will win, but no.” Another added, “At least, they should stop nominating other actresses, it's disrespectful to them, or scrap the best actress category and officially declare Alia as the forever winner.”

Comparing Alia’s career with other actresses with fewer wins, one fan pointed out, “I don't know much Bollywood, but even I can recognise names like Waheeda Rahman, Nutan, Sridevi to be iconic ones which my parents talked about or we grew up hearing about them in popular culture. If, say, in a TV show, there is a female character who likes acting very much, people will refer to her as Sridevi or Madhuri Dixit. No one will ever think of Alia even in their 4-5th attempt.” Another echoed, “Alia Bhatt is better than Waheeda, Vaijayanti, Meena, Vidya... kya baat hai (what's this).”

“Is she really that good?” asked one, adding, “The most Best Actor wins are shared between Shah Rukh Khan and Dilip Kumar. Nobody doubts their acting skills or stardom. Alia is not at that level.”

Alia Bhatt's win for Jigra

Jigra, the film for which Alia won the award this year, was directed by Vasan Bala and also starred Vedang Raina in the lead. Alia’s performance as a sister attempting a daring jailbreak to free her brother from death row was appreciated, but the film did not do well at the box office. Made on a budget of ₹80 crore, Jigra earned only ₹55 crore worldwide despite largely positive reviews.

The actor will be next seen in the YRF Spy Universe film, Jigra, followed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Love & War.