Monday 24 / March / 2025
Muscat: Local and expat fans of Bollywood films and music were left with fond memories after the Sultanate hosted its first ever Filmfare event in Muscat, on March 29.
More photos here
Synonymous now with the famed Filmfare Awards – one of the Hindi film industry’s most coveted prizes – Filmfare Middle East held their first anniversary celebrations at the Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah, an event which saw some of Bollywood’s biggest names come to the Sultanate.
The red carpet was graced by Bollywood’s biggest stars, including Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, Jacqueline Fernandez, Rajkumar Rao, Ishaan Khatter, Janhvi Kapoor, Tabu, Shatrughan Sinha and Bappi Lahiri among others. The audience witnessed some enthralling performances by Nora Fatehi, The Kakkar Sisters and Oman’s singing sensation Haitham Rafi.
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A tribute to Usha Uthup and Bappi Lahiri’s host of songs from their 50-year-old career was performed by the stars themselves. Jahnvi Kapoor and Ishaan Khatter won hearts with their impromptu dance performance of ‘Zingaat’ from their movie ‘Dhadak’.
The awards were brought to Oman by the Danube Group, who are the franchise owners for Filmfare Middle East.
Commenting on the awards, Rizwan Sajan, Founder and the Chairman of Danube Group stated, “At Filmfare Middle East, it is our goal to take Bollywood beyond borders. With this star-studded anniversary celebration we are delighted to say that we made the event exceedingly entertaining. With the colossal scale and grandeur of the event we have surpassed all benchmarks and have made this edition a big entertainment extravaganza.”
TFM 95.4, the Times of Oman’s radio station, brought exclusive coverage of the night from the red carpet at the heart of the event.
From interacting with mega stars from the Hindi Film Industry to exclusive interviews from the event, TFM brought it all.
“Our association with Danube Group goes a long way and it was an honour to be a part of the Filmfare Middle East first anniversary celebrations. The team thoroughly enjoyed talking to Rajkumar Rao, Ishaan Khatter and all the others from the Bollywood industry”, said Garima Bhandari, Programme Director, T FM 95.4.
The winners who took the awards home this year were Rajkummar Rao for ‘Performer of the Year’, Sonam K Ahuja for ‘Most Progressive Roles in Hindi Cinema 2018’, Ishaan Khatter for ‘Best Debut (male)’, and Janhvi Kapoor for ‘Best Debut (female)’ amongst a host of other awards presented during the night.
“I am thrilled to be winning the award for my performance in my movie ‘Stree’. It’s a wonderful feeling to be recognised for your contribution to cinema and what better way to make it in Bollywood than receiving a Filmfare award,” said Rajkummar Rao when Team TFM asked him about the award he’d received for ‘Performance of the Year’.
Ishaan Khatter and Jim Sarbh had similar views about how warm and hospitable Muscat city is when the team asked them about their experience in the city.
Tune in to TFM to hear all the interviews with the stars along with inside scoop from the event. Follow @TFMOman across social media for the exclusive coverage of the awards night.
