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 Mammootty
Among 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 recognised
Regional 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 list
Feature Film Award Category
- Best Feature Film – Article 370
- Best Actor – Kartik Aaryan and Mammootty
- Best Actress – Yami Gautam
- Best Director – Rajkumar Periasamy
- Best Supporting Actor – Sanjay Mishra
- Best Supporting Actress – Ropashree Varkady
- Best Feature Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment – Kalki 2898 AD
- Best Film Promoting National, Social Values – Captain Miller
- Best Child Artist – Riddhiman Banerjee, Tapomoy Deb, Gitashree Chakraborty, Arundev Pothula, Athish S Shetty
- Best Cinematography – Shehnad Jalal
- Best Screenplay – Sukumar
- Best Script Obur (Clouds) – Faraz Ali
- Best Dialogue Writer – Venky Atluri
- Best Production Design – Nitin Zihani Choudhary
- Best Make-Up Artist – P Ravi Kumar
- Best Costume Design – Deepali Noor & Sheetal Sharma
- Best Music Direction (Songs) – Shashwat Sachdev
- Best Music Direction (Background Score) – GV Prakash
- Best Lyrics – Manoj Muntashir
- Best Male Playback Singer – Abhay Jodhpurkar
- Best Female Playback Singer – Vaikom Vijayalakshmi
- Best Choreography – Vijay Ganguly
- Best Sound Design – Manas Choudhury
- Best Editing – R Kalaivannan
- Best Action Direction –Anl Arasu
- Best Assamese Film – Juiphool
- Best Bengali Film – Chalchitra Ekhon
- Best Hindi Film – Srikanth
- Best Kannada Film – Mithya
- Best Malayalam Film – Feminichi Fathima
- Best Marathi Film – Mukkam Post Bombilwadi
- Best Odia Film – Lahari
- Best Tamil Film Raayan – Raayan
- Best Telugu Film – Committee Kurrollu
- Special Mention –Suren G (Meiyazhagan), Dhanush (Captain Miller)
Other Award Category and Special Mention
- Best Film Critic (Hindi) – Sanjeev Shrivastava
- Best Book on Cinema – Naaniruvude Nimagaagi Naadiruvude Nanagaagi: Kannada Cinemada Thathva Matthu Rajakeeya by Kenchanuru Pradeep Kumar Shetty
- Special Mention Bhadra – Kali Natakam; Chola Dora aur Sui
Non-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 Water
- Best Short Film (Up to 30 Minutes) – Hamsafar
- Best Arts/Culture Film – Main Nida
- Best 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 Rai
- Best 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
