The Filmfare Awards are presented annually by The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Hindi language film industry of India. The Filmfare ceremony is one of the oldest and most prominent film events given for Hindi films in India. The awards were first introduced in 1954, the same year as the National Film Awards. They were initially referred to as the Clare Awards after the editor of The Times of India, Clare Mendonca. A dual voting system was developed in 1956. Under this system, "in contrast to the National Film Awards, which are decided by a panel appointed by Indian Government, the Filmfare Awards are voted for by both the public and a committee of experts." The Filmfare Awards have been often referred to as Hindi film industry's equivalent to the Oscars.

The Filmfare awards were first introduced in 1954. The Clares was the original name of the award ceremony, named after The Times of India critic Clare Mendonca. Readers of Filmfare were polled to decide the winners, and over 20,000 readers spread throughout India participated in the polls; trophies were given to winners of the popular vote. In the first awards function, held on 21 March 1954 at the Metro Theatre of Mumbai, only five awards were presented: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Music Director. Do Bigha Zameen was the first movie to win the award for Best Film. The first winners for other four categories were: Bimal Roy for his direction of Do Bigha Zameen, Dilip Kumar for his performance in Daag, Meena Kumari for her performance in Baiju Bawra, and Naushad for his music in Baiju Bawra.

Shahrukh Khan (pronounced [‘ʃaːɦrəx ˈxaːn]; born 2 November 1965), often credited as Shah Rukh Khan and informally referred to as SRK, is an Indian film actor. Known as "The King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films. He has won fourteen Filmfare Awards from thirty nominations for his work in Indian films and shares the record for the highest number of Best Actor awards with Dilip Kumar, eight wins. In 2005, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri for his contributions towards Indian cinema.

After graduating with a Bachelor's degree in economics, he started his career appearing in theatre and several television serials in the late 1980s and later made his Hindi film debut in 1992 with Deewana. Early in his career he was recognised for his unconventional choice of negative roles in films such as Darr (1993), Baazigar (1993) and Anjaam (1994). Since then he has played leading roles in a wide variety of film genres, including romantic films, comedies, thrillers, action films, sport films, and historical dramas among others.

Saif Ali Khan (pronounced [ˈsɛːf əˈli ˈxaːn]; born 16 August 1970) is an Indian actor known for his work in Bollywood films. He is the son of the cricket player and last titular Nawab of Pataudi, late Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, and actress Sharmila Tagore, a great-grandniece of poet Rabindranath Tagore.

Having made his acting debut in 1992 with Parampara, Khan had his first success with the 1994 films Main Khiladi Tu Anari and Yeh Dillagi. After going through several years of decline throughout the 1990s, he rose into prominence with his performance in Dil Chahta Hai (2001), which marked his professional turning point. His work in Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) won him the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor, and he was awarded the National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in Hum Tum (2004).

Khan subsequently had further mainstream success with films like Salaam Namaste (2005) and Race (2008) and starred in critically acclaimed projects such as Parineeta (2005), Being Cyrus and Omkara (2006). In 2009, Khan branched out into film production with his company Illuminati Films' first film Love Aaj Kal, which became a box-office success. These accomplishments have established him as one of the leading actors of Hindi cinema. He was awarded the Padma Shri civilian award by the Government of India in 2010.

Shahid Kapoor (born 25 February 1981) is an Indian actor who appears in Bollywood films. He is also a trained dancer.

Starting off his career by working in music videos and advertisements, Kapoor made his Bollywood debut as a background dancer in Subhash Ghai's Taal (1999). Four years later, he made his acting debut in Ishq Vishk (2003) and won a Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut for his performance. Following through with films like Fida (2004) and Shikhar (2005), he had his first major commercial success with Sooraj R. Barjatya's Vivah (2006), his biggest commercial success, and followed it up with Jab We Met (2007) and Kaminey (2009), both of which earned him Best Actor nominations at the Filmfare ceremony.

Kapoor was born to actor Pankaj Kapoor and actor/classical dancer Neelima Azeem on 25 February 1981. Kapoor's parents divorced when he was 3. After the divorce, he lived with his mother and maternal grandparents in Junaghad. He shared a good relationship with his father and stepmother Supriya Pathak. As far as his religious affiliation is concerned, Kapoor has stated in an interview that while his father is a Sikh and his mother is a Muslim, both his parents have taught him that he "should look at all religions without hatred and have compassion for every human being whatever his religion may be," saying that he believes that "there is one God up above."

Hrithik Roshan ([ˈrɪt̪ʰɪk ˈroːʃən]; born 10 January 1974) is an Indian film actor. Having appeared as a child actor in several films throughout the 1980s, Roshan made his film debut in a leading role in Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai in 2000. His performance in the film earned him Filmfare Awards for Best Actor and Best Male Debut. He followed it with leading roles in Fiza and Mission Kashmir (both 2000) and a supporting part in the blockbuster Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001), which was India's highest-grossing film in the overseas market up to then.

Following through with several unnoticed performances from 2002 to 2003, he starred in the blockbusters Koi... Mil Gaya (2003) and its sequel Krrish (2006), both of which won him numerous Best Actor awards. Roshan received his third Filmfare Award for Best Actor in 2006 for his performance in the action film Dhoom 2, his biggest commercial success to date, and his fourth for Jodhaa Akbar, for which he was also awarded at the Golden Minbar International Film Festival. These accomplishments have established him as one of the leading contemporary actors of Hindi cinema. He later received further acclaim for his work in Guzaarish (2010), Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) and Agneepath (2012).