The Filmfare Award for Best Music Director has gone to 20 albums in the last 20 ceremonies, from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for Bunty Aur Babli in 2006 to Ram Sampath for Laapataa Ladies in 2025. Pritam leads this period with six wins, followed by A. R. Rahman with five. The full year-wise list is below.
Filmfare Best Music Director winners list: quick facts
- Period covered: 51st Filmfare Awards (2006) to 70th Filmfare Awards (2025).
- Latest winner: Ram Sampath for Laapataa Ladies at the 70th edition, held on 11 October 2025 at EKA Arena, Ahmedabad.
- Most wins in this period: Pritam (6), then A. R. Rahman (5).
- Most wins overall: A. R. Rahman, with 10 wins across his career.
- Only tie in this period: 2020, when Kabir Singh and Gully Boy shared the award.
A note on the name: Filmfare has presented this trophy as Best Music Director for most of its history, and recent ceremonies list it as Best Music Album. The year in the list below is the year of the ceremony. The films themselves released in the previous calendar year.
Filmfare Award for Best Music Director: winners from 2006 to 2025
The table lists the ceremony year, the edition number, the credited winners and the film. Where a soundtrack had several composers, all credited names are included, as Filmfare honours the album as a whole.
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| Year | Edition | Winner(s) | Film (release year) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 51st | Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy | Bunty Aur Babli (2005) |
| 2007 | 52nd | A. R. Rahman | Rang De Basanti (2006) |
| 2008 | 53rd | A. R. Rahman | Guru (2007) |
| 2009 | 54th | A. R. Rahman | Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na (2008) |
| 2010 | 55th | A. R. Rahman | Delhi-6 (2009) |
| 2011 | 56th | Sajid-Wajid and Lalit Pandit | Dabangg (2010) |
| 2012 | 57th | A. R. Rahman | Rockstar (2011) |
| 2013 | 58th | Pritam | Barfi! (2012) |
| 2014 | 59th | Ankit Tiwari, Mithoon and Jeet Ganguly | Aashiqui 2 (2013) |
| 2015 | 60th | Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy | 2 States (2014) |
| 2016 | 61st | Amaal Mallik, Ankit Tiwari and Meet Bros Anjjan | Roy (2015) |
| 2017 | 62nd | Pritam | Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016) |
| 2018 | 63rd | Pritam | Jagga Jasoos (2017) |
| 2019 | 64th | Sanjay Leela Bhansali | Padmaavat (2018) |
| 2020 | 65th | Kabir Singh: Amaal Mallik, Mithoon, Vishal Mishra, Sachet-Parampara, Akhil Sachdeva. Gully Boy: Zoya Akhtar, Ankur Tewari | Kabir Singh and Gully Boy (2019, tie) |
| 2021 | 66th | Pritam | Ludo (2020) |
| 2022 | 67th | Tanishk Bagchi, B Praak, Jaani, Jasleen Royal, Javed-Mohsin and Vikram Montrose | Shershaah (2021) |
| 2023 | 68th | Pritam | Brahmastra: Part One, Shiva (2022) |
| 2024 | 69th | Pritam, Vishal Mishra, Harshavardhan Rameshwar, Shreyas Puranik, Ashim Kemson, Bhupinder Babbal, Jaani and Manan Bhardwaj | Animal (2023) |
| 2025 | 70th | Ram Sampath | Laapataa Ladies (2024) |
At the time of writing (October 2026), we could not find an announced winner for the 71st Filmfare Awards. This list will need an update once that ceremony takes place.
2006 to 2012: the A. R. Rahman years
The period opened with Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy winning for Bunty Aur Babli, the album that gave us “Kajra Re”. After that, A. R. Rahman won four years in a row, from 2007 to 2010, for Rang De Basanti, Guru, Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na and Delhi-6.
That run covered very different kinds of music. Rang De Basanti had youth anthems like “Masti Ki Paathshaala”, Guru had “Tere Bina” and “Barso Re”, and Delhi-6 gave the decade “Masakali”. Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na was a light college romance with songs like “Kabhi Kabhi Aditi”.
The streak broke in 2011 when Sajid-Wajid and Lalit Pandit won for Dabangg, the album of “Tere Mast Mast Do Nain” and “Munni Badnaam Hui”. Rahman returned in 2012 with Rockstar, a soundtrack that moved from the Sufi “Kun Faya Kun” to the rock of “Sadda Haq”.
Best album to revisit: Rockstar, for its range from Sufi to rock.
2013 to 2019: Pritam’s rise and the multi-composer album
Pritam won his first trophy in this category in 2013 for Barfi!, a soundtrack built on gentle, old-fashioned melodies like “Phir Le Aya Dil” and “Ala Barfi”. He won twice more in this stretch, for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil in 2017 and Jagga Jasoos in 2018.
This was also when Hindi film albums began to be shared among several composers. Aashiqui 2 won in 2014 with credits for Ankit Tiwari, Mithoon and Jeet Ganguly, with “Tum Hi Ho” as its best-known song. Roy won in 2016 for Amaal Mallik, Ankit Tiwari and Meet Bros Anjjan, even though the film itself did not do well with critics.
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy took their second win of the period in 2015 for 2 States, which had “Mast Magan” and “Locha-E-Ulfat”. In 2019, director Sanjay Leela Bhansali won as composer for Padmaavat, the album that includes “Ghoomar”. He has scored his own films since Guzaarish.
Best album to revisit: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, for “Channa Mereya” and the title track.
2020 to 2025: ties, big casts of composers and a surprise winner
The 2020 ceremony ended in a tie. Kabir Singh, with songs like “Bekhayali” and “Tujhe Kitna Chahne Lage”, shared the award with Gully Boy, whose credits went to director Zoya Akhtar and music supervisor Ankur Tewari. Gully Boy’s soundtrack drew on Mumbai’s hip-hop scene, with “Apna Time Aayega” as its best-known track.
Pritam won again in 2021 for Ludo, in 2023 for Brahmastra: Part One, Shiva, which had “Kesariya”, and in 2024 for Animal. The Animal album was credited to eight names, including Vishal Mishra, Shreyas Puranik and Bhupinder Babbal, and it produced hits such as “Arjan Vailly” and “Satranga”.
Shershaah won in 2022 for a team of six credited composers, including Tanishk Bagchi for “Raataan Lambiyan” and B Praak and Jasleen Royal for “Ranjha”. The 2025 award was the odd one out: Ram Sampath won for Laapataa Ladies, a small film by Kiran Rao, beating bigger albums like Stree 2 and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3. Its best-known songs are “Sajni” and “Dhaagaa”.
Best album to revisit: Laapataa Ladies, for how much it does with a few simple songs.
Who has won the most Filmfare Best Music Director awards?
Across the full history of the award, A. R. Rahman has the most wins with 10. He is followed by Shankar-Jaikishan with 9 and Laxmikant-Pyarelal with 7. Pritam has 6 wins and holds the record for the most nominations in the category, with 26.
Within the last 20 ceremonies alone, the order flips, because Rahman’s first wins came in the 1990s. Here is how the repeat winners of 2006 to 2025 stack up.
| Composer | Wins (2006 to 2025) | Winning films |
|---|---|---|
| Pritam | 6 | Barfi!, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Jagga Jasoos, Ludo, Brahmastra, Animal |
| A. R. Rahman | 5 | Rang De Basanti, Guru, Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na, Delhi-6, Rockstar |
| Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy | 2 | Bunty Aur Babli, 2 States |
| Mithoon | 2 (shared) | Aashiqui 2, Kabir Singh |
| Ankit Tiwari | 2 (shared) | Aashiqui 2, Roy |
| Amaal Mallik | 2 (shared) | Roy, Kabir Singh |
| Vishal Mishra | 2 (shared) | Kabir Singh, Animal |
| Jaani | 2 (shared) | Shershaah, Animal |
Shared wins count once for each credited composer. For example, Mithoon’s two wins came as part of larger teams on Aashiqui 2 and Kabir Singh.
Patterns worth noticing in the winners list
- Solo composers are rarer now. Between 2006 and 2013, most winners were a single composer or a fixed trio. From 2014 to 2025, five of the twelve ceremonies honoured albums with several separate composer credits.
- Box office helps but does not decide. Roy and Jagga Jasoos won despite modest theatrical runs, and Laapataa Ladies beat some of 2024’s biggest hits.
- Directors as composers. Sanjay Leela Bhansali won for Padmaavat, and Zoya Akhtar was credited for Gully Boy, which shows how closely some directors shape their soundtracks.
- Love stories dominate. Romantic albums such as Aashiqui 2, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Kabir Singh and Brahmastra make up a large share of the winners.
How to listen to the winning albums
A simple way to explore them is to build a playlist in the order of this table, starting with “Kajra Re” and ending with “Sajni”, so you can hear how Hindi film music changed over two decades.
These playlists also work well on long road trips. If you are heading out on one, a good pair of sunglasses from an Indian label like Rawbare is worth packing along with the music. For more song lists, see our pick of the best chand songs in Bollywood.
If you want to see how recent films did at the box office, our list of the highest-grossing Hindi films of 2025 covers the year’s biggest releases, while our Shah Rukh Khan career timeline touches on several of the films that shaped Hindi film music.
Frequently asked questions
Who won the Filmfare Best Music Director award in 2025?
Ram Sampath won at the 70th Filmfare Awards in 2025 for Laapataa Ladies. The ceremony was held on 11 October 2025 in Ahmedabad.
Who has won the most Filmfare awards for Best Music Director?
A. R. Rahman has the most wins in the category, with 10. Shankar-Jaikishan are second with 9.
How many Filmfare Best Music Director awards has Pritam won?
Pritam has won 6 times: for Barfi!, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Jagga Jasoos, Ludo, Brahmastra: Part One, Shiva and Animal. He also has the most nominations, 26.
Which film won Filmfare Best Music Director in 2024?
Animal won at the 69th Filmfare Awards in 2024. The award was shared by its credited composers, including Pritam, Vishal Mishra and Bhupinder Babbal.
Has the Filmfare Best Music Director award ever been a tie?
Yes. In 2020, Kabir Singh and Gully Boy shared the award at the 65th Filmfare Awards.
Sources: Wikipedia: Filmfare Award for Best Music Director, Wikipedia: 70th Filmfare Awards, WION: Filmfare Awards 2025 full winners list.
