The 72nd National Film Awards is a prestigious award that honours the best films produced in the country.
Mumbai:On September 22, the 72nd National Film Awards ceremony was held in Ekta Nagar, Gujarat, to honour films and artistes from across Indian cinema. The awards were presented by the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, while veteran actor Anant Nag was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.
A number of prominent figures from the fields of acting, direction, music and technical aspects of filmmaking across Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and other regional languages received honours.
Article 370 Wins Best Feature Film
Article 370 won the Best Feature Film award. The film’s lead actor Yami Gautam was honoured with the Best Actress in a Leading Role award. Shashwat Sachdev also received the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for Songs for the film.
Kartik Aaryan and Mammootty Share Best Actor Honour
Mammootty and Kartik Aaryan shared the Best Actor in a Leading Role award. Mammootty received the honour for his performance in the Malayalam film Bramayugam, while Kartik Aaryan was recognised for Chandu Champion.
Bramayugam also received an award for cinematography, while Chandu Champion marked Kartik Aaryan’s first National Film Award.
Rajkumar Periasamy Wins Best Director
Tamil filmmaker Rajkumar Periasamy received the Best Direction award for Amaran. The film also won the award for Best Music Direction for Background Music, which was presented to G. V. Prakash Kumar.
Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, directed by Randeep Hooda, received the award for Best Debut Film of a Director.
Recognition Across Languages
Films in several Indian languages were also recognised at the awards. Srikanth received the Best Hindi Film award, Raayan won Best Tamil Film, Committee Kurrollu was recognised as the Best Telugu Film, Feminichi Fathima won Best Malayalam Film and Mithya was named Best Kannada Film.
Kalki 2898 AD won the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment award, while its production design also received recognition. Pushpa: The Rule Part 2 received recognition for Original Screenplay, while Stree 2 won the Best Choreography award for the song Aaj Ki Raat.
Anant Nag Receives Dadasaheb Phalke Award
One of the highlights of the ceremony was the presentation of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award to veteran Kannada actor Anant Nag in recognition of his contribution to Indian cinema. The honour was for the year 2024 and recognised his career spanning more than five decades.
For the first time in decades, the National Film Awards ceremony was held outside Delhi, with this year’s event taking place in Ekta Nagar, Gujarat.
