The winners of the 72nd National Film Awards were officially announced by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on 18 July 2026. The awards recognise films certified during the calendar year 2024 and honour achievements across feature films, non-feature films and writing on cinema.
Article 370 received the Best Feature Film award. Mammootty, for Bramayugam, and Kartik Aaryan, for Chandu Champion, jointly received the Best Actor in a Leading Role award. Yami Gautam won Best Actress in a Leading Role for Article 370.
Other major winners included Amaran for Best Direction, Kalki 2898 AD for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and Randeep Hooda for Best Debut Film of a Director for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar.
72nd National Film Awards: Major Winners
- Best Feature Film: Article 370
- Best Actor in a Leading Role: Mammootty and Kartik Aaryan
- Best Actress in a Leading Role: Yami Gautam
- Best Direction: Rajkumar Periasamy – Amaran
- Best Popular Film: Kalki 2898 AD
- Best Debut Film of a Director: Randeep Hooda – Swatantrya Veer Savarkar
- Best Non-Feature Film: Bhangaar
- Best Documentary: Ram-Nami
Complete Feature Film Awards
| Award | Film | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| Best Feature Film | Article 370 (Hindi) | Producer: Jio Studios & B62 Studios; Director: Aditya Suhas Jambhale |
| Best Debut Film of a Director | Swatantrya Veer Savarkar (Hindi) | Randeep Hooda |
| Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment | Kalki 2898 AD (Telugu) | Producer: Vyjayanthi Movies; Director: Nag Ashwin Singireddy |
| Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social and Environmental Values | Captain Miller (Tamil) | Producer: Sathya Jyothi Films; Director: Arun Matheswaran |
| Best Children’s Film | 35 – Chinna Katha Kaadu (Telugu) | Producers: S Originals & Waltair Productions Pvt. Ltd.; Director: Nanda Kishore Emani |
| Best Direction | Amaran (Tamil) | Rajkumar Periasamy |
| Best Actor in a Leading Role | Bramayugam (Malayalam) | Mammootty – Joint winner |
| Best Actor in a Leading Role | Chandu Champion (Hindi) | Kartik Aaryan – Joint winner |
| Best Actress in a Leading Role | Article 370 (Hindi) | Yami Gautam |
| Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Bhakshak (Hindi) | Sanjay Mishra |
| Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Maharaja (Tamil) | Sachana Namidass – Joint winner |
| Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Mithya (Kannada) | Ropashree Varkady – Joint winner |
| Best Child Artist | Mithya (Kannada) | Athish S. Shetty |
| Best Child Artist | 35 – Chinna Katha Kaadu (Telugu) | Arundev Pothula |
| Best Child Artist | Onko Ki Kothin (Bengali) | Riddhiman Banerjee, Tapomoy Deb and Gitashree Chakraborty |
| Best Male Playback Singer | Gharat Ganpati (Marathi) | Abhay Jodhpurkar – “Navasachi Gauri Mazi” |
| Best Female Playback Singer | A.R.M. (Malayalam) | Vaikom Vijayalakshmi – “Angu Vaana Konilu” |
| Best Cinematography | Bramayugam (Malayalam) | Shehnad Jalal |
| Best Original Screenplay | Pushpa: The Rule Part 02 (Telugu) | Bandreddi Sukumar |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Swargandharva Sudhir Phadke (Marathi) | Yogesh Deshpande |
| Best Dialogue Writer | Lucky Baskhar (Telugu) | Venky Atluri |
| Best Sound Design | Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 (Hindi) | Manas Choudhury |
| Best Editing | Amaran (Tamil) | R. Kalaivannan |
| Best Production Design | Kalki 2898 AD (Telugu) | Nitin Zihani Choudhary |
| Best Costume Design | Pushpa: The Rule Part 02 (Telugu) | Deepali Noor and Sheetal Sharma |
| Best Make-up | Committee Kurrollu (Telugu) | P. Ravi Kumar |
| Best Music Direction – Songs | Article 370 (Hindi) | Shashwat Sachdev |
| Best Music Direction – Background Music | Amaran (Tamil) | G. V. Prakash Kumar |
| Best Lyrics | Maidaan (Hindi) | Manoj Muntashir – “Jaane Do” |
| Best Choreography | Stree 2 (Hindi) | Vijay Ganguly – “Aaj Ki Raat” |
| Best Action Direction | Maharaja (Tamil) | Anl Arasu |
Best Feature Films by Language
| Award | Film | Producer/Director |
|---|---|---|
| Best Assamese Film | Juiphool | Producer and Director: Jadumoni Dutta |
| Best Bengali Film | Chalchitra Ekhon | Producer: Anjan Dutt Production; Director: Anjan Dutt |
| Best Gujarati Film | Maaran | Producer: Cineman Productions Limited; Director: Abhishek Jain |
| Best Hindi Film | Srikanth | Producers: Super Cassettes Industries Pvt. Ltd. and Chalk N Cheese Films Production LLP; Director: Tushar Hiranandani |
| Best Kannada Film | Mithya | Producers: Paramvah Pictures and KRG Studios; Director: Sumanth Bhat |
| Best Konkani Film | Mog Asum | Directors: Radheshyam Pipalwa and Agnelo Angelo Braganza |
| Best Malayalam Film | Feminichi Fathima | Producers: 1001 Stories and AFD Cinemas; Director: Fasil Muhammed |
| Best Manipuri Film | Sunita | Director: Yumnam Ajit Singh |
| Best Marathi Film | Mukkam Post Bombilwadi | Director: Paresh Mokashi |
| Best Odia Film | Lahari | Producer: Jhilik Motion Pictures; Director: Amartya Bhattacharyya |
| Best Tamil Film | Raayan | Producer: Sun TV Network Limited; Director: Dhanush |
| Best Telugu Film | Committee Kurrollu | Producers: Pink Elephant Pictures and Shree Radha Damodara Studios; Director: Yadhu Vamsee |
| Best Garhwali Film | Dholi | Producer: SC Pharmachem Pvt. Ltd.; Director: Dinesh P. Bhonsle |
| Best Tulu Film | IMBU | Producer: Pichchar Studio; Director: Shivadhwaj Shetty |
| Special Mention | Captain Miller | Actor: Dhanush |
| Special Mention | Meiyazhagan | Film Sound Mix Engineer: Suren G. |
Complete Non-Feature Film Awards
| Award | Film | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| Best Non-Feature Film | Bhangaar | Producer and Director: Sumira Roy |
| Best Debut Film of a Director | Angen | Ravi Raj Murmu |
| Best Biographical/Historical Reconstruction/Compilation Film | Kakori | Director: Kamlesh K. Mishra |
| Best Arts/Culture Film | Main Nida | Director: Atul Pandey |
| Best Documentary | Ram-Nami | Director: Bharatbala Ganapathy |
| Best Film Promoting Social and Environmental Values | Piplantri: A Tale of Eco Feminism | Director: Suraj Kumar |
| Best Animation Film | Touched as Water | Director and Animator: Joshy Benedict |
| Best Short Film | Hamsafar | Director: Abhijeet Arvind Dalvi |
| Best Direction | Statue of Unity – Ekta ka Prateek | Aanand L. Rai |
| Best Cinematography | Life in Loom | Edmond Ranson |
| Best Sound Design | Blue | T. S. Hari Hara Sudhan |
| Best Editing | NDA | Manvir Jasrotia |
| Best Music Direction | Parat 41°chya Magavar | Shivpal Singh Kang |
| Best Narration/Voice Over | Little Planet: A Tale of Frogs | Soundarya Jayachandran |
| Best Script | Obur | Faraz Ali |
| Special Mention | Bhadra-Kali Natakam | Director: Ananda Jyothi (Jose Antony) |
| Special Mention | Chola Dora aur Sui | Directors: Jaymin Modi and Lokesh Ghai |
Best Writing on Cinema
| Award | Winner | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Best Book on Cinema | Kenchanuru Pradeep Kumar Shetty | Naaniruvude Nimagaagi Naadiruvude Nanagaagi: Kannada Cinemada Thathva matthu Rajakeeya (Kannada), published by Mirror Pusthaka |
| Best Film Critic | Sanjeev Shrivastava | Hindi |
About the 72nd National Film Awards
The National Film Awards are presented by the Government of India to recognise excellence in Indian cinema. The 72nd edition covers feature films, non-feature films and writing on cinema for the year 2024.
The winners were selected by separate juries headed by Jayaraj for feature films, Aseem Sinha for non-feature films and A. Chandrasekhar for writing on cinema.
Official source: Press Information Bureau – 72nd National Film Awards for the Year 2024 Announced
Disclaimer: This post has been prepared for informational and educational purposes using the official announcement issued by the Press Information Bureau, Government of India. Award titles and recipient details remain subject to any subsequent correction or clarification issued by the competent authority. Readers should consult the official notification for authoritative information.
Source / additional details
Official announcement: Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. The winners were announced on 18 July 2026.