The 42nd Filmfare Awards were held on 23 February 1997, in Mumbai, India.

Khamoshi: The Musical led the ceremony with 13 nominations, followed by Maachis and Raja Hindustani with 11 nominations each.

Khamoshi: The Musical and Raja Hindustani won 5 awards each, thus becoming the most-awarded films at the ceremony, with the former winning Best Film (Critics) (for Sanjay Leela Bhansali) and Best Actress (Critics) (for Manisha Koirala), and the latter winning Best Film, Best Actor (for Aamir Khan) and Best Actress (for Karisma Kapoor).

Nana Patekar received dual nominations for Best Actor for his performances in Agni Sakshi and Khamoshi: The Musical, but lost to Aamir Khan who won the award for Raja Hindustani.

Shekhar Kapur achieved special feat in the awards. His 1994 film Bandit Queen earlier was awarded the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Film in 1995. Surprisingly Kapur was awarded the Filmfare Award for Best Director in this ceremony for the latter. Thus, Kapur became the only person who was awarded two different awards for the same film in different ceremonies.

The winners and nominees have been listed below. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (‡).

Dharmendra and Mumtaz

Govinda, Nasir Hussain, Pran and Shobhna Samarth

Vishal Bhardwaj – Maachis

Khamoshi: The Musical

Manisha Koirala – Khamoshi: The Musical

Beyond the Himalayas

• Khamoshi: The Musical – 5/13
• Raja Hindustani – 5/11
• Maachis – 4/11
• Ghatak: Lethal – 3/6
• Bandit Queen – 3/5

• https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000245/1997

• Filmfare Awards
• 43rd Filmfare Awards