72nd National Film Awards Winners: Anant Nag Conferred Dadasaheb Phalke; Mammootty, Kartik Aaryan Named Best Actors - Check Full List

The 72nd National Film Awards ceremony was held today, where President Droupadi Murmu presented the prestigious honours celebrating outstanding achievements in Indian cinema for films certified in 2024. The political drama Article 370 secured the coveted Best Feature Film award, while lead actress Yami Gautam bagged the Best Actor in a Female Role trophy for her performance in the project. The Best Actor in a Male Role honour was shared by veteran Malayalam superstar Mammootty for his role in Bramayugam, marking his fourth National Award, and Hindi cinema actor Kartik Aaryan for his portrayal of petanque athlete Murlikant Petkar in Chandu Champion. Who Is Anant Nag? Meet the Sandalwood Icon Named 2024 Dadasaheb Phalke Award Recipient.

National Film Awards 2026 Highlights

The feature film jury, chaired by acclaimed Malayalam director Jayaraj, presented awards across various artistic and technical disciplines. Rajkumar Periasamy earned the Best Director award for his biographical war drama Amaran. Nag Ashwin’s futuristic epic Kalki 2898 AD was named the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.

Randeep Hooda received the award for Best Debut Film of a Director for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar. Meanwhile, Arun Matheswaran's Captain Miller won the award for Best Film Promoting National, Social, and Environmental Values.

In the supporting categories, Sanjay Mishra won Best Supporting Actor for Bhakshak. The Best Supporting Actress award was jointly awarded to Ropashree Varkady for Mithya and Sachana Namidass for Maharaja.

Watch the 72nd National Film Awards: 

72nd National Film Awards Winners

Feature Film Categories

Best Feature Film: Article 370

Best Director: Rajkumar Periasamy (Amaran)

Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male): Mammootty (Bramayugam) and Kartik Aaryan (Chandu Champion)

Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female): Yami Gautam (Article 370)

Best Supporting Actor (Male): Sanjay Mishra (Bhakshak)

Best Supporting Actress (Female): Ropashree Varkady (Mithya) and Sachana Namidass (Maharaja)

Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Kalki 2898 AD

Best Debut Film of a Director: Randeep Hooda (Swatantrya Veer Savarkar)

Best Film Promoting National, Social, and Environmental Values: Captain Miller

Best Children's Film: 35 – Chinna Katha Kaadu

Best Child Artist: Riddhiman Banerjee, Topomoy Deb, Gitashree Chakraborty (Onko Ki Kothin), Arundev Pothula (35 – Chinna Katha Kaadu), and Athish S. Shetty (Mithya)

Screenwriting and Technical Awards

Best Screenplay: Bandireddi Sukumar (Pushpa 2: The Rule) and Yogesh Deshpande (Swargandharva Sudhir Phadke)

Best Dialogue Writer: Venky Atluri (Lucky Baskhar)

Best Music Direction (Songs): Shashwat Sachdev (Article 370) and G. V. Prakash Kumar (Amaran)

Best Music Direction (Background Score): G. V. Prakash Kumar (Amaran)

Best Lyrics: Manoj Muntashir ("Jaane Do" – Maidaan)

Best Male Playback Singer: Abhay Jodhpurkar ("Navsachi Gauri Mazi" – Gharat Ganpati)

Best Female Playback Singer: Vaikom Vijayalakshmi ("Angu Vaana Konilu" – ARM)

Best Cinematography: Shehnad Jalal (Bramayugam)

Best Editing: R Kalaivannan (Amaran)

Best Sound Design: Manas Choudhury (Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3)

Best Production Design: Nitin Zihani Choudhary (Kalki 2898 AD)

Best Costume Design: Deepali Noor and Sheetal Sharma (Pushpa 2: The Rule)

Best Makeup Artist: P. Ravi Kumar (Committee Kurrollu)

Best Action Direction: Anl Arasu (Maharaja)

Best Choreography: Vijay Ganguly (Stree 2)

Best Regional Films

Best Hindi Film: Srikanth

Best Tamil Film: Raayan

Best Telugu Film: Committee Kurrollu

Best Malayalam Film: Feminichi Fathima

Best Kannada Film: Mithya

Best Marathi Film: Mukkam Post Bombilwadi

Best Bengali Film: Chalchitra Ekhon

Best Gujarati Film: Maaran

Best Odia Film: Lahari

Best Assamese Film: Juiphool

Best Manipuri Film: Sunita

Best Konkani Film: Mog Asum

Best Garo Film: Lahari

Best Tulu Film: Imbu

Best Garhwali Film: Dholi

Special Mentions

Dhanush (Captain Miller) and Sound Engineer Suren G (Meiyazhagan)

Non-Feature Film Categories

Best Non-Feature Film: Bhangaar (Obsolete) (Marathi/English) – Directed by Sumira Roy

Best Direction: Aanand L. Rai (Statue of Unity: Ekta Ka Prateek)

Best Documentary: Ram-Nami – Directed by Bharatbala Ganapathy

Best Non-Feature Film Promoting Social and Environmental Values: Piplantri: A Tale of Eco Feminism – Directed by Suraj Kumar

Best Debut Film of a Director: Angen (Invisible) (Santhali) – Directed by Ravi Raj Murmu

Best Short Film (Up to 30 Minutes): Hamsafar – Directed by Abhijeet Arvind Dalvi

Best Animation Film: Touched as Water – Directed by Joshy Benedict

Best Arts/Culture Film: Main Nida – Directed by Atul Pandey

Best Biographical/Historical Reconstruction Film: Kakori – Directed by Kamlesh K Mishra

Best Script: Faraz Ali (Obur)

Best Narrator/Voice Over: Soundarya Jayachandran (Little Planet: A Tale of Frogs)

Best Music Direction: Shivpal Singh Kang (Parat 41°chya Magavar)

Best Cinematography: Edmond Ranson (Life in Loom)

Best Editing: Manvir Jasrotia (NDA)

Best Sound Design: T S Hari Hara Sudhan (Blue)

Writing on Cinema

Best Book on Cinema: Naaniruvude Nimagaagi Naadiruvude Nanagaagi by Kenchanuru Pradeep Kumar Shetty

Best Film Critic: Sanjeev Shrivastava Mammootty 75th Birthday: 7 Must-Watch Films of the Mollywood Megastar.

The ceremony reached an emotional peak as the auditorium erupted in a resounding standing ovation for Dadasaheb Phalke recipient Anant Nag as he walked up to receive his honour. Similar heartwarming, enthusiastic standing ovations were accorded to veteran superstar Mammootty and playback singer Vaikom Vijayalakshmi, making their award presentations among the most memorable moments of the evening.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 22, 2026 05:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).