Chetak Screen Awards 2026: Zakir Khan jokes ‘Dhurandhar se sabki jali hai’, roasts Bollywood’s ‘success parties’

Zakir Khan takes a dig at industry’s award culture

Taking a dig at the industry’s award culture and Dhurandhar’s dominance, he said, “Main technicians key saath khada tha wo keh rhey they ki saare awards Dhurandhar ko dena hai to humein bulaya kyun hai, technician k saath baithan sabse badiya rehta hai ki chalo is baar award to mila payment nahi mil rahi to kam sey kam is baar award to mila. (I was standing with some technicians, and they were saying, “If all the awards are going to Dhurandhar anyway, why were we even invited?” They were like, “Fine, we didn’t get paid this time, but at least we got an award).”

Zakir’s take on ‘success parties’

Zakir Khan then joked that in Mumbai, “success parties” have little to do with a film’s actual performance.

“10 saal ho gaye mujhe Mumbai mein rehte rehte, 10 saal mein maine badi kamaal ki cheez dekhi hai wo hai success parties. Success parties ka success sey koi lena dena nahi hai, film chale na chale, chaar log dekhe na dekhe 300 crore to ho hi jaata hai. Ye waisa wala hai ki koi aur tay nahi karega ki meri film chali ya nahi, ye main aur mera producer decide karta hai ki film successful hai. Humara caterer decide karta hai ki film successful hai ya nahi hai. Main dekh rha hun ki aadhi crew ney nahi dekhi hoti hai film, phir bhi sab log party kar rhey hotey hain (It’s been 10 years since I’ve been living in Mumbai, and in these 10 years I’ve noticed something quite remarkable — success parties. These parties have nothing to do with actual success. Whether a film works or not, whether even four people watch it or not, somehow it always crosses ₹300 crore. It’s like no one else decides whether my film worked — it’s just me and my producer who decide that the film is successful. In fact, our caterer decides whether the film is successful or not. I’ve seen that half the crew hasn’t even watched the film, yet everyone is partying).”

Sabse badiya success lagti hai mujhey OTT platform wali films ki, jo film, show chal jaaye, OTT film k manager sey poochiye aap arey wo show bada chal gya unka rehta hai but it did not do numbers. Aur ek dum thus show, jisko chaar logon ney nahi dekha 1000 log gaali de rahe hain unhe bolo ki wo show to bilkul kharaab ho gya to they say no but it did numbers to us. Show ka kabhi dusra season nahi aata and it did numbers to us (I find the “success” of OTT platform films the most amusing. If a film or show does well, you ask the OTT manager that this show worked wekk and they reply, “it didn’t really do numbers.” And then there’s a completely dull show that hardly anyone watched and a thousand people are criticising – if you say it flopped, they’ll respond, “No, it did numbers for us.” That show never even gets a second season, but still — “it did numbers for us).”

ALSO READ: Chetak Screen Awards 2026 full winners list: Dhurandhar bags 14 awards; Homebound wins Best Film

On Dhurandhar’s success

Zakir also joked that despite all the public praise and congratulatory posts, the truth is that Dhurandhar’s massive success has quietly left everyone in the industry a little jealous.

Kitne hi congratulations post aap daal dein, kitni story daal dein, kitni public interview mein aap keh dein meri favourite film baat sach to ye hai doston Dhurandhar sey sabki jali to hai. Bomb film mein phoote Lyari mein but dhuaan hua hai Bandra sey Juhu mein (No matter how many congratulatory posts you put up, how many stories you share, or how often you say in public interviews that it’s your favourite film — the truth is, my friends, everyone is jealous of Dhurandhar. It’s like a bomb exploded in Lyari, but the smoke is being seen from Bandra to Juhu).”

On payment disparity

He also pointed out the irony of Bollywood, where stars get lavish perks while crew members struggle for basic payments.

He said, “Teesra mujhe sabse kamaal ki baat lagti hai wo ye hai ki payment ka bada problem hai bhaisahab. Ek taraf superstar log hain jo saat, saat aath aath vanity maang rhey hain, producers dene ko bhi taiyaar ho rahey hain dusri taraf spotboy dekh raha hai ki mera per day ka hi clear kar do kam sey kam. Ye badi dichotomy hai is sheher ki. Light man ka paisa rok key manish malhotra pehen k kya milega bhai tum ko (The third thing that amazes me the most is the issue of payments. On one side, you have superstars demanding seven or eight vanity vans, and producers are ready to provide them. On the other side, a spot boy is just hoping that at least his per-day wage gets cleared. This is the big dichotomy of this city. What will you really gain by withholding a lightman’s payment and wearing Manish Malhotra).”

Major winners at Chetak Screen Awards 2026

Among the winners, Dhurandhar emerged as the biggest winner with 14 awards, including Best Actor (Male) for Ranveer Singh, Best Director for Aditya Dhar and Best Supporting Actor (Male) for Akshaye Khanna, along with multiple technical honours. Haq by Suparn Verma won Best Actor (Female) for Yami Gautam Dhar and Best Film for Gender Sensitivity, while Homebound by Neeraj Ghaywan took home major awards including Best Film.

About Chetak Screen Awards 2026

Instituted by The Indian Express Group, the Chetak Screen Awards are considered among India’s most credible film honours, built on merit, integrity and peer recognition. Winners are selected by the independent Screen Academy, a not-for-profit body comprising 53 eminent filmmakers, artistes and cultural voices.

Following an initial shortlist, Academy members evaluate entries through a structured voting process. The framework, designed by Priya Jaikumar of the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, ensures a balanced assessment of creativity, technical excellence, audience connect and innovation, with performance categories judged for authenticity.

The Screen Academy includes a distinguished panel of members such as Shoojit Sircar, Deepa Mehta, Sriram Raghavan, Ram Madhvani, Guneet Monga Kapoor, John Abraham, Kabir Khan, Karan Johar, Mukesh Chhabra, Payal Kapadia, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Rajkumar Hirani, Resul Pookutty, Rima Das and Vidya Balan, among others — reflecting a diverse and influential cross-section of the film industry.

Watch Chetak Screen Awards 2026 on YouTube