The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in New Delhi has officially announced the highly awaited winners of the 72nd National Film Awards, celebrating the absolute best of Indian cinema certified during the 2024 calendar year. The prestigious event highlighted an exceptional year for diverse storytelling across multiple regional film industries, blending veteran mastery with breakthrough contemporary performances. In a historic verdict delivered by the central jury chaired by acclaimed Malayalam filmmaker Jayaraj, the highly coveted Best Actor in a Leading Role title was shared jointly between Bollywood youth icon Kartik Aaryan for his physically demanding role in the sports biopic Chandu Champion and Malayalam cinema legend Mammootty for his brilliant performance in the psychological horror thriller Bramayugam. Meanwhile, the exceptionally talented Yami Gautam Dhar proudly clinched her career’s first-ever National Film Award for Best Actress for her powerful portrayal of an intelligence officer in the hard-hitting political thriller Article 370, which also emerged as the biggest winner of the night by walking away with the premier institutional honor of Best Feature Film.
The high-profile ceremony showcased massive multi-category triumphs for several landmark cinematic projects that defined the box office and critical space alike. Director Rajkumar Periasamy was officially crowned Best Director for helming the emotionally charged biographical war drama Amaran, while the grand multi-starrer mythological sci-fi blockbuster Kalki 2898 AD rightfully secured the award for Best Feature Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment alongside a win for Nitin Zihani Choudhary for Best Production Design. In the highly competitive supporting performance categories, senior Bollywood actor Sanjay Mishra claimed the Best Supporting Actor trophy for his moving role in Bhakshak, while the Best Supporting Actress title was shared between Ropashree Varkady for Mithya and Sachana Namidass for Maharaja. Furthermore, actor-filmmaker Randeep Hooda earned significant recognition by winning the Best Debut Film of a Director award for his passion project Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, while the period action drama Captain Miller, starring Dhanush, took home the premier award for Best Film Promoting National, Social, and Environmental Values alongside a notable Special Mention for Dhanush’s lead performance.
The technical and writing categories at the 72nd National Film Awards also celebrated phenomenal artistic craftsmanship, with major honors distributed across diverse language industries. Renowned composer Shashwat Sachdev secured the award for Best Music Direction for Songs for his impactful work in Article 370, sharing the music honors with GV Prakash Kumar, who won Best Background Score for Amaran. In the screenplay departments, creative director Sukumar officially won the Best Original Screenplay award for the blockbuster sequel Pushpa 2: The Rule, which also bagged the Best Costume Design trophy for Deepali Noor and Sheetal Sharma. Renowned filmmaker Venky Atluri received the Best Dialogue Writer award for the hit film Lucky Bhaskar, while Shehnad Jalal was deservingly honored with the Best Cinematography award for his spectacular black-and-white visual frames in Bramayugam. Additionally, the musical track of Maidaan earned Manoj Muntashir the award for Best Lyrics, while Abhay Jodhpurkar was named Best Male Playback Singer for Gharat Ganpati, and Vaikom Vijayalakshmi won Best Female Playback Singer for her soulful rendition in the film ARM.
Highlighting the deep cultural roots of Indian storytelling, the regional film categories brought well-deserved glory to standard language films that stood out for their structural excellence. The award for Best Hindi Film went to the Rajkummar Rao-starrer inspirational biopic Srikanth, while Dhanush’s neo-noir revenge drama Raayan was adjudged the Best Tamil Film, and the coming-of-age drama Committee Kurrollu claimed the Best Telugu Film title. Feminichi Fathima secured the honor for Best Malayalam Film, Mithya won Best Kannada Film, Mukkam Post Bombilwadi was declared Best Marathi Film, Chalchitra Ekhon won Best Bengali Film, and Lahari took home the Best Odia Film trophy. In the non-feature film domain, acclaimed filmmaker Aanand L Rai secured the Best Direction award for his highly impactful documentary Statue of Unity: Ekta Ka Prateek, as the main title for Best Non-Feature Film went to Bhangaar. Rounding off the specialized honors, Sanjeev Shrivastava was named the Best Film Critic, and Kenchanuru Pradeep Kumar Shetty won the Best Book on Cinema award, establishing this year’s National Film Awards as a truly holistic and magnificent celebration of India’s expansive cinematic evolution.
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