The 72^nd  National Film Awards will be presented by the President of India on 22 September 2026 at Ekta Nagar (Kevadia), Gujarat. The ceremony will bring together filmmakers, actors, technicians and other artists from across the country to celebrate outstanding achievements in Indian cinema for the year 2024.

Instituted in 1954, the National Film Awards are country’s most prestigious honours for excellence in cinema. Over seven decades, the Awards have recognised outstanding creative and technical achievements across feature films, non-feature films and writing on cinema, while reflecting the rich linguistic, cultural and regional diversity of Indian filmmaking.

In a major policy initiative, it has been decided by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to hold National Film Awards in various parts of the country taking it beyond the National Capital.  The ceremony at Ekta Nagar this year will bring together cinematic talent from across India, embody the spirit of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’.

The 72^nd National Film Awards celebrate this diversity across a wide range of languages, genres and cinematic forms. ‘Article 370’ will be honoured as the Best Feature Film. ‘Bhangaar’ has been adjudged the Best Non-Feature Film and ‘Ram-Nami’ was chosen as the Best Documentary by the Jury. Mammootty for ‘Bramayugam’ and Kartik Aaryan for ‘Chandu Champion’ have been announced the Best Actor in a Leading Role award, while Yami Gautam will be honoured as Best Actress in a Leading Role for ‘Article 370’. Randeep Hooda will receive the Best Debut Director award for ‘Swatantrya Veer Savarkar’.

The Awards also recognise excellence in films across languages and forms, including Marathi, Santhali, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Tulu and Garhwali, among others. Several films, including ‘Kalki 2898 AD’, ‘Amaran’, ‘Pushpa: The Rule Part-02’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’ and ‘Stree 2’, will also receive honours in various categories. For the first time, a Santhali film will be honoured in the Non-Feature Film section of the National Film Awards.

In the Best Writing on Cinema category, Sanjeev Shrivastava has been announced as Best Film Critic award. The Best Book on Cinema award will be given to ‘Naaniruvude Nimagaagi Naadiruvude Nanagaagi: Kannada Cinemada Thathva matthu Rajakeeya’ (I Stand for You, the State Stands for Us: Political and Philosophical Dimensions of Kannada Cinema) written by Dr. Pradeep Kenchanuru and published by Mirror Pusthaka.

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Mahesh Kumar/Vivek Vishwash