The Filmfare awards were first introduced in 1953. The Clares was the original name of the award ceremony, named after The Times of India critic Clare Mendonca. Readers of Filmfare were polled to decide the winners, and over 20,000 readers spread throughout India participated in the polls; trophies were given to winners of the popular vote. In the first awards function, held on 21 March 1954 at the Metro Theatre of Mumbai, only five awards were presented: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Music Director. Do Bigha Zameen was the first movie to win the award for Best Film. The first winners for other four categories were: Bimal Roy for his direction of Do Bigha Zameen, Dilip Kumar for his performance in Daag, Meena Kumari for her performance in Baiju Bawra, and Naushad Ali for his music in Baiju Bawra.

Hollywood star Gregory Peck was invited to be the guest of honour at the first ever awards on 21 March 1954 at the Metro theatre, Mumbai but couldn't make it to the function since his flight from Colombo got delayed. However, Peck did attend the banquet that followed the award nite at Wellington Club (Gymkhana), Mumbai. ^{[ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 6 ]}

The winners for the year 1985 were announced in 1986 and the event was scheduled to be held at the Brabourne Stadium in December 1986. Unfortunately the 'Bombay film Industry', as was known then went on strike in '86 because of its many contentious issues with the Maharashtra Government. So the ceremony was pushed to the next year. The winners of 1985 were awarded on 28 January 1987. Due to Security reasons, filmfare was not awarded for 1986 and 1987. ^{[ 7 ]}

Due to the many award ceremonies in the Indian Film Industry, it is often questioned which ones are "real" and based on fair decisions made by the jury. The Filmfare went through a phase of controversy in which they were accused of a biased selection when nominating and presenting awards and it was believed that they were not awarded based on merit. But, it is a common trend for the award ceremonies to be questioned over such issues ^{[ 8 ]} The Bollywood fraternity has been around for over a century now and has acquired many new techniques, talents, story lines, and much more. The importance of these awards is that it recognizes an industry in which almost a thousand movies per year are produced making it one of the biggest in cinema. They are also a very important set of awards because everyone has a soft spot in their hearts for them due to they long lasting journey. The awards only started with a few categories back in 1953 but today, it recognizes about 31 categories. In the past century, they have proves to overcome any controversy and at the same time achieve something new each year as well. ^{[ 9 ]}

The statuette, depicting a woman whose arms uprise in a dance number with her fingers touching, is commonly referred to as "The Black Lady" (or "The Lady in Black"). Filmfare is widely known for "The Black Lady" not only because of its beautiful sculpture but because it is the token of honor presented to each winner. Originally designed by N.G. Pansare under the supervision of Times of India's art director Walter Langhammer, it is generally made of bronze, its height is 46.5 cm and it weighs around five kgs. ^{[ 10 ]} To celebrate the 25th year of the awards, the statues were made in silver and to celebrate the 50th year the statues were made in gold. ^{[ 11 ]} The trophy is manufactured by The Award Gallery. ^{[ 12 ]} Till 2012, there were only a few changes made to the trophy. But recently, as of 2013, a huge change has been made to give the trophy a 3-D look. ^{[ 13 ]} Two reasons were given for this change. The organizers believe that this was necessary to match the many advances in technology in today's world which will advance a lot more in the coming years as well. Also, this was an attempt to match the theme of the 2013 set of awards at Filmfare in Mumbai. The theme was a hundred years leap into the future. Hence, what is better than the idea of a new looking lady? ^{[ 14 ]} Winners are always very overwhelmed when they hold the lady in their hands not only because it proves and shows their hard work but also because of the warm feeling and excitement that comes with it. The appearance of this lady is quite surprising because the Indian population tends to believe that a dark appearance is not attractive in a human being but they beg to differ when it comes to this beautiful lady. ^{[ 15 ]}