The 61st Maharashtra State Film Awards, presented by the Government of Maharashtra celebrated excellence in Marathi cinema by honoring the best films released in 2023.
The nominations were announced on 27 June 2025 by the Minister of Cultural Affairs, Ashish Shelar, who also revealed the winners in the technical and child artist categories. The award ceremony took place on 5 August 2025.
The Maharashtra Film, Theatre and Cultural Development Corporation had invited submissions for the awards, with the original deadline set for 16 April 2024 but later extending it to 31 May 2024. In total, 49 entries certified by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) released between 1 January and 31 December 2023, were submitted for the preliminary round of evaluation.
The 60th and 61st ceremonies were held together, with honors in the special categories presented jointly for both years. Anupam Kher received the Raj Kapoor Award, Kajol was honored with the Raj Kapoor Special Contribution Award, Mahesh Manjrekar received the V. Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award, Mukta Barve was presented the V. Shantaram Special Contribution Award, and Bhimrao Panchale was honored with the Lata Mangeshkar Award.
At the 61st ceremony, Gypsy won the most awards, 8 in total, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Rural Film, and Best Rural Film Director. It was followed by Jaggu Ani Juliet and Naal 2 with 7 awards each.
Jury members Vijay PatkarBhargavi ChirmulePrasanna KarkhanisSanjay DharankarKshitija KhandagaleAtul DeshpandeAnjali KhobrekarAtul ShidhayeGanesh PanditArun MhatreAshish KeskarVitthal PatilArchana PatkarRajan BaneAmit Bhandari
Awards and nominations Source:
Film and director awards Best Film IBest Director I Bhera Shrikant Prabhakar – BheraBest Film IIBest Director II Jaggu Ani Juliet Mahesh Limaye – Jaggu Ani JulietBest Film IIIBest Director III Naal 2 Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti – Naal 2Best Rural FilmBest Rural Film Director Gypsy Sashi Khandare – GypsyBest Social FilmBest Social Film Director Asha Aatmapamphlet Gypsy Naal 2 Raundal Terav Jaggu Ani Juliet Bhera Asha Jhimma 2 Alibaba Aani Chalishitale Chor Deepak Balu Patil – Asha Ashish Bende – Aatmapamphlet Sashi Khandare – Gypsy Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti – Naal 2 Gajanan Padol – Raundal Harish Ithape – Terav Mahesh Limaye – Jaggu Ani Juliet Shrikant Prabhakar – Bhera Deepak Patil – Asha Hemant Dhome – Jhimma 2 Aditya Ingale – Alibaba Aani Chalishitale Chor
Acting awards Best Actor (Shahu Modak and Sivaji Ganesan Award)Best Actress (Smita Patil Award) Amey Wagh – Jaggu Ani Juliet as Jaggu Dada Shridhar Watsar – Sshort and Ssweet Siddharth Jadhav – Hajar Vela Shole Pahilela Manus Rinku Rajguru – Asha as Malti Vaidehi Parshurami – Jaggu Ani Juliet as Juliet Kiran Khoje – TeravBest Supporting Actor (Chintamanrao Kolhatkar Award)Best Supporting Actress (Shanta Hublikar and Hansa Wadkar Award) Santosh Juvekar – Ravrambha as Jalindar Pravin Dalimbkar – Ghar Banduk Biryani as Gura Subodh Bhave – Alibaba Ani Chalishitale Chor as Parag Usha Naik – Asha as Rakhma Mai Ashvini Mahangade – Maharashtra Shahir as Radhabai Sable Suhas Joshi – Jhimma 2 as Indumati Karnik (Indu)Best Comedian Male (Damuanna Malvankar Award)Best Comedian Female (Ratnamala Award) Upendra Limaye – Jaggu Ani Juliet Anand Ingale – Alibaba Ani Chalishitale Chor as Varun Girish Kulkarni – Ekda Yeun Tar Bagha as Shravan Dada Nirmiti Sawant – Jhimma 2 as Nirmala Konde-Patil Namrata Sambherao – Ekda Yeun Tar Bagha as Ashwini Tejaswini Lonari – Aflatoon as Alia SawantBest Child Artist (Gajanan Jagirdar Award) Kabir Khandare – Gypsy Treesha Thosar – Naal 2
Debut awards Best Debut Film ProductionBest Debut Direction Gypsy Hajar Vela Shole Pahilela Manus Sshort and Ssweet Ashish Bende – Aatmapamphlet Harish Ithape – Terav Gajanan Padol – RaundalBest Debut Actor (Kashinath Ghanekar Award)Best Debut Actress (Ranjana Deshmukh Award) Deepak Joil – Bhera as Vishnu Shahu Tukaram – Gypsy Jayesh Thakkar – Aflatoon as Manav Shraddha Khanolkar – Bhera as Anibai Gauri Deshpande – Shyamchi Aai as Yashoda Gayatri Bansode – Gypsy
Music awards Best Playback Singer MaleBest Playback Singer Female Mohit Chauhan – Ghar Banduk Biryani for "Ghar Banduk Biryani" Swapnil Bandodkar – Phulrani for "Tujhya Sobatine" Ajay Gogavale – Maharashtra Shahir for "Paul Thakle Nahi" Rucha Bondre – Shyamchi Aai for "Bharjari Ga Pitambar" Shreya Ghoshal – Jhimma 2 for "Rang Ola" Vaishali Mhade – Raundal for "Man Baharla Ga"Best LyricsBest Background Score Vaibhav Deshmukh – Naal 2 for "Bhingori" Vinayak Pawar – TDM for "Ek Phool" Kshitij Patwardhan – Jhimma 2 for "Rang Ola" Advait Nemlekar – Naal 2 Ashish Jha – Asha Virendra Latankar – TeravBest Music Director (Arun Paudwal Award)Best Choreographer Ajay-Atul – Maharashtra Shahir Virendra Latankar – Terav AV Prafullchandra – Naal 2 Rahul Thombre, Sanjeev Hovaladar – Jaggu Ani Juliet for "Tu Bi Aan Mi Bi" Ranju Varghese – Aflatoon for "Maka Naka" Rahul Thombre, Sanjeev Hovaladar – Jaggu Ani Juliet for "Bhavi Amdar"
Writing awards Best Story (Madhusudan Kalelkar Award)Best Screenplay Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti – Naal 2 Paresh Mokashi – Aatmapamphlet Shashikant Khandare – Gypsy Shashikant Khandare – Gypsy Shyam Pethkar – Terav Paresh Mokashi – AatmapamphletBest Dialogue Ambar Hadap, Ganesh Pandit – Jaggu Ani Juliet Vivek Bele – Alibaba Ani Chalishitale Chor Paresh Mokashi – Aatmapamphlet
Technical awards Best Costume DesignBest Make-up Manasi Attarde – Jaggu Ani Juliet Hamid Sheikh, Manali Bhosale – Hajar Vela Shole Pahilela ManusBest Cinematography (Pandurang Naik Award)Best Editing Pravin Sonavane – Gypsy Akshay Shinde – GypsyBest Sound MixingBest Sound Editing Vikas Khandare – Gypsy Kunal Lolsure – Shyamchi AaiBest Art Direction (Saheb Mama aka Fateh Lal Award) Amey Bhalerao – Shyamchi Aai
Special awards Special Encouragement Award Bhargav Jagtap – Naal 2Jury's Special Award Shyamchi Aai
Superlatives +Multiple winsAwardsFilm8Gypsy7Jaggu Ani JulietNaal 25Shyamchi Aai4BheraAsha1Jhimma 2AatmapamphletGhar Banduk BiryaniMaharashtra ShahirHajar Vela Shole Pahilela Manus
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