The 26th Filmfare Awards were held in 1979.

Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki and Muqaddar Ka Sikandar led the ceremony with 9 nominations each, followed by Satyam Shivam Sundaram with 6 nominations, and Don and Trishul with 5 nominations each.

Don and Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki won 3 awards each, thus becoming the most-awarded films at the ceremony, with the former winning Best Actor (for Amitabh Bachchan), and the latter winning Best Film and Best Actress (for Nutan).

The ceremony was notable as Nutan became the first actress in the history of Indian Cinema to win Best Actress 5 times, breaking the record held by Meena Kumari (with 4 wins) for 13 years. She was nominated for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki, winning the former. Her niece Kajol matched her record 32 years later, at the 55th Filmfare Awards with her 5th win for My Name Is Khan (2010).

Sanjeev Kumar received dual nominations for Best Actor for his performances in Devata and Pati Patni Aur Woh, but lost to Amitabh Bachchan, who himself received triple nominations in the category for his performances in Don, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar and Trishul, winning for the former.

Legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray won his first and only Filmfare award at the ceremony, winning Best Director for Shatranj Ke Khilari.

Main awards

Best Film

Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki

• Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se
• Muqaddar Ka Sikandar
• Shatranj Ke Khilari
• Trishul

Best Director

Satyajit Ray – Shatranj Ke Khilari

• Prakash Mehra – Muqaddar Ka Sikandar
• Raj Kapoor – Satyam Shivam Sundaram
• Raj Khosla – Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki
• Yash Chopra – Trishul

Best Actor

Amitabh Bachchan – Don

• Amitabh Bachchan – Muqaddar Ka Sikandar
• Amitabh Bachchan – Trishul
• Sanjeev Kumar – Devata
• Sanjeev Kumar – Pati Patni Aur Woh

Best Actress

Nutan – Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki

• Raakhee – Trishna
• Ranjeeta – Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se
• Rekha – Ghar
• Zeenat Aman – Satyam Shivam Sundaram

Best Supporting Actor

Saeed Jaffrey – Shatranj Ke Khiladi

• Danny Denzongpa – Devata
• Randhir Kapoor – Kasme Vaade
• Sanjeev Kumar – Trishul
• Vinod Khanna – Muqaddar Ka Sikandar

Best Supporting Actress

Reena Roy – Apnapan

• Asha Parekh – Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki
• Nutan – Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki
• Ranjeeta – Pati Patni Aur Woh
• Rekha – Muqaddar Ka Sikandar

Best Comic Actor

Deven Verma – Chor Ke Ghar Chor

• Asrani – Pati Patni Aur Woh
• Deven Verma – Khatta Meetha
• Keshto Mukherjee – Azaad
• Ram Sethi – Muqaddar Ka Sikandar

Best Story

Ghar – Dinesh Thakur

• Kitaab – Samaresh Basu
• Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki – Chandrakant Kakodkar
• Muqaddar Ka Sikandar – Laxmikant Sharma
• Trishul – Salim–Javed

Best Screenplay

Pati Patni Aur Woh – Kamleshwar

Best Dialogue

Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki – Rahi Masoom Raza

Best Music Director

Satyam Shivam Sundaram – Laxmikant–Pyarelal

• Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se – Ravindra Jain
• Don – Kalyanji-Anandji
• Des Pardes – Rajesh Roshan
• Shalimar – R.D. Burman

Best Lyricist

Apnapan – Anand Bakshi for Aadmi Musafir Hai

• Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se – Ravindra Jain for Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se
• Don – Anjaan for Khaike Paan
• Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki – Anand Bakshi for Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki
• Satyam Shivam Sundaram – Pandit Narendra Sharma for Satyam Shivam Sundaram

Best Playback Singer, Male

Don – Kishore Kumar for Khaike Paan

• Apnapan – Mohammad Rafi for Aadmi Musafir Hai
• Muqaddar Ka Sikandar – Kishore Kumar for O Saathi Re
• Satyam Shivam Sundaram – Mukesh for Chanchal Sheetal
• Shalimar – Kishore Kumar for Hum Bewafa

Best Playback Singer, Female

Don – Asha Bhosle for Yeh Mera Dil

• Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se – Hemlata for Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se
• Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki – Shobha Gurtu for Saiyyan Rooth Gaye
• Muqaddar Ka Sikandar – Asha Bhosle for O Saathi Re
• Shalimar – Usha Uthup for One Two Cha Cha Cha

Best Art Direction

Des Pardes – T. K. Desai ^[1]

Best Cinematography

Satyam Shivam Sundaram – Radhu Karmakar ^[2]

Best Editing

Badaltey Rishtey – B. Prasad ^[3]

Best Sound

Devata – Ranjit Biswas ^[4]

Critics' awards

Best Film

Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan

Best Documentary

Malfunction

Biggest Winners

• Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki – 3/9
• Don – 3/5
• Shatranj Ke Khiladi – 2/3
• Apnapan – 2/3
• Satyam Shivam Sundaram – 2/6
• Trishul – 0/5
• Muqaddar Ka Sikandar – 0/9