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 film events 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 or
The Clares after Clare Mendonca, the editor of
The Times of India. 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 by both the public and a committee of experts." The Filmfare Awards have been often referred to as the Hindi film industry's equivalent to
The Oscars.