The winners of the 72nd National Film Awards were announced in New Delhi on Saturday, with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting honouring the best of Indian cinema across feature films, non-feature films and writing on cinema. The awards recognise films certified by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) between January 1 and December 31, 2024.
Considered India’s highest official recognition for cinematic excellence, the National Film Awards celebrate achievements across feature films, documentaries, short films, regional cinema and technical categories. This year’s winners were selected by an 11-member jury headed by acclaimed Malayalam filmmaker Jayaraj, who had earlier served on the National Film Awards jury in 2012.
Top honours go to Yami Gautam, Kartik Aaryan and MammoottyAmong the biggest winners this year, Article 370 was named Best Feature Film. Yami Gautam won the Best Actress award for her performance in the film, while Kartik Aaryan and Mammootty shared the Best Actor honour.
Rajkumar Periasamy was named Best Director, while Sanjay Mishra and Ropashree Varkady won the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress awards, respectively.
Kalki 2898 AD received the award for Best Feature Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, while Captain Miller won Best Film Promoting National, Social Values.
Regional films and technical awards recognisedRegional cinema continued to receive strong recognition at this year’s awards. Feminichi Fathima won Best Malayalam Film, Raayan was named Best Tamil Film, Committee Kurrollu won Best Telugu Film, while Srikanth was honoured as Best Hindi Film.
Other regional winners included Juiphool (Best Assamese Film), Chalchitra Ekhon (Best Bengali Film), Mithya (Best Kannada Film), Mukkam Post Bombilwadi (Best Marathi Film) and Lahari (Best Odia Film).In the writing categories, Faraz Ali won Best Script for Obur (Clouds), while Venky Atluri received the Best Dialogue Writer award. Sukumar won Best Screenplay, Shehnad Jalal was honoured for Best Cinematography, and Nitin Zihani Choudhary won Best Production Design. Here is the complete winners list.72nd National Film Awards 2026 winners: Full listFeature Film Award Category
Best Feature Film – Article 370Best Actor – Kartik Aaryan and MammoottyBest Actress – Yami GautamBest Director – Rajkumar PeriasamyBest Supporting Actor – Sanjay MishraBest Supporting Actress – Ropashree VarkadyBest Feature Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment – Kalki 2898 ADBest Film Promoting National, Social Values – Captain MillerBest Child Artist – Riddhiman Banerjee, Tapomoy Deb, Gitashree Chakraborty, Arundev Pothula, Athish S ShettyBest Cinematography – Shehnad Jalal Best Screenplay – SukumarBest Script Obur (Clouds) – Faraz AliBest Dialogue Writer – Venky AtluriBest Production Design – Nitin Zihani ChoudharyBest Make-Up Artist – P Ravi KumarBest Costume Design – Deepali Noor & Sheetal SharmaBest Music Direction (Songs) – Shashwat SachdevBest Music Direction (Background Score) – GV PrakashBest Lyrics – Manoj MuntashirBest Male Playback Singer – Abhay JodhpurkarBest Female Playback Singer – Vaikom VijayalakshmiBest Choreography – Vijay GangulyBest Sound Design – Manas ChoudhuryBest Editing – R KalaivannanBest Action Direction –Anl ArasuBest Assamese Film – JuiphoolBest Bengali Film – Chalchitra EkhonBest Hindi Film – SrikanthBest Kannada Film – MithyaBest Malayalam Film – Feminichi Fathima Best Marathi Film – Mukkam Post BombilwadiBest Odia Film – LahariBest Tamil Film Raayan – RaayanBest Telugu Film – Committee KurrolluSpecial Mention –Suren G (Meiyazhagan), Dhanush (Captain Miller)Other Award Category and Special Mention
Best Film Critic (Hindi) – Sanjeev ShrivastavaBest Book on Cinema – Naaniruvude Nimagaagi Naadiruvude Nanagaagi: Kannada Cinemada Thathva Matthu Rajakeeya by Kenchanuru Pradeep Kumar ShettySpecial Mention Bhadra – Kali Natakam; Chola Dora aur SuiNon-Feature Film Award Category
Best Non-Feature Film – Bhangaar (Obsolete)Best Debut Film of a Director – Angen (Invisible) (Santhali) Best Documentary Ram – Nami Best Animation Film – Touched as WaterBest Short Film (Up to 30 Minutes) – HamsafarBest Arts/Culture Film – Main NidaBest Biographical/Historical Reconstruction/Compilation Film – Kakori Best Non-Feature Film Promoting Social and Environmental Values – Piplantri: A Tale of Eco Feminism Best Direction – Aanand L RaiBest Cinematography – Edmond Ranson Best Sound Design – T S Hari Hara Sudhan Best Editing – Manvir Jasrotia Best Music Direction – Shivpal Singh Kang Best Narrator/Voice Over – Soundarya Jayachandran
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