The 69th National Film Awards ceremony was an event during which the National Film Development Corporation of India presented its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2021 in Indian cinema. The awards ceremony was originally slated to be held on 3 May 2022 but was postponed due to delays after the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] The winners were announced on 24 August 2023, by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in a press conference.[2][3] The winners along with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipient were felicitated by the President, Droupadi Murmu on 17 October 2023 at the Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.[4][5]
| 69th National Film Awards | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best of Indian cinema in 2021 |
| Awarded by | NFDC |
| Presented by | Droupadi Murmu (President of India) |
| Announced on | 24 August 2023 |
| Presented on | 17 October 2023 |
| Official website | www |
| Highlights | |
| Best Feature Film | Rocketry: The Nambi Effect |
| Best Non-Feature Film | Ek Tha Gaon |
| Best Book | Music by Laxmikant Pyarelal: The Incredibly Melodious Journey |
| Best Film Critic | Purushothama Charyulu |
| Dadasaheb Phalke Award | Waheeda Rehman |
| Most awards | RRR (6) |
Selection process
editThe National Film Development Corporation of India invited online entries on 31 March 2023 with the acceptable last date for entries until 10 May 2023. Feature and Non-Feature Films certified by the Central Board of Film Certification between 1 January 2021, and 31 December 2021, were eligible for the film award categories. Books, critical studies, reviews or articles on cinema published in Indian newspapers, magazines, and journals between 1 January 2021, and 31 December 2021, were eligible for the best writing on cinema section. Entries of dubbed, revised or copied versions of a film or translation, abridgements, edited or annotated works and reprints were ineligible for the awards.
For the feature and non-feature Films sections, films in any Indian language, shot on 16 mm, 35 mm, a wider film gauge or a digital format, and released in cinemas, on video or digital formats for home viewing were eligible. Films were required to be certified as a feature film, a featurette or a Documentary/Newsreel/Non-Fiction by the Central Board of Film Certification.[6]
Dadasaheb Phalke Award
editIntroduced in 1969, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest award in the field of cinema given to recognise the contributions of film personalities towards the development of Indian cinema and for distinguished contributions to the medium, its growth and promotion. The recipient is awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award' (Swarna Kamal), cash prize of ₹1 million (US$12,000) and a shawl. The 2021 recipient is Waheeda Rehman.[7]
A committee consisting five eminent personalities from Indian film industry was appointed to evaluate the lifetime achievement award, Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Following were the jury members:
- Jury Members
| • Asha Parekh |
| • Chiranjeevi |
| • Paresh Rawal |
| • Shekhar Kapur |
| • Prosenjit Chatterjee |
| Award | Image | Awardee(s) | Awarded As | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dadasaheb Phalke Award | 
|
Waheeda Rehman | Actress | ₹1,000,000 (US$12,000) |
Feature films
editGolden Lotus Awards
editOfficial Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
| Award | Film | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Feature Film | Rocketry: The Nambi Effect | Tamil Hindi |
Director: R. Madhavan | ₹250,000 |
| Best Direction | Godavari | Marathi | Nikhil Mahajan | ₹250,000 |
| Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment | RRR | Telugu | Producer: D. V. V. Danayya Director: S. S. Rajamouli |
₹200,000 each |
| Best Children's Film | Gandhi & Co. | Gujarati | Producer: MD Media Corp Director: Manish Saini |
₹150,000 each |
| Best Debut Film of a Director | Meppadiyan | Malayalam | Producer: Unni Mukundan Director: Vishnu Mohan |
₹125,000 each |
Silver Lotus Award
editOfficial Name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
Regional awards
editNational Film Awards are also given to the best films in the regional languages of India. Awards for the regional languages are categorised as per their mention in the Eighth schedule of the Constitution of India. Awardees included producers and directors of the film. No films in languages other than those specified in the Schedule VIII of the Constitution were eligible.
| Award | Film | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Producer | Director | |||
| Best Feature Film in Assamese | Anur | Gopendra Mohan Das | Monjul Baruah | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Bengali | Kalkokkho | Anjan Bose | Rajdeep Paul, Sarmistha Maiti | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Gujarati | Chhello Show | Pan Nalin, Dheer Momaya, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Marc Duale | Pan Nalin | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Hindi | Sardar Udham | Ronnie Lahiri, Sheel Kumar | Shoojit Sircar | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Kannada | 777 Charlie | G. S. Gupta, Rakshit Shetty | Kiranraj K. | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Maithili | Samanantar | Niraj Kumar Mishra, Atul Pandey | Niraj Kumar Mishra | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Malayalam | Home | Vijay Babu | Rojin Thomas | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Manipuri | Eikhoigi Yum | Romi Meitei & Chingsubam Sheetal | Romi Meitei | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Marathi | Ekda Kaay Zala | Saleel Kulkarni, Siddharth Mahadevan, Soumil Shringarpure, Siddharth Khinvasara, Soumendu Kuber, Arundhati Datye, Anoop Nimkar, Nitin Prakash Vaidya | Saleel Kulkarni | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Odia | Pratikshya | Anupam Patnaik | Anupam Patnaik | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Tamil | Kadaisi Vivasayi | M. Manikandan | M. Manikandan | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Telugu | Uppena | Naveen Yerneni, Y. Ravi Shankar | Buchi Babu Sana | ₹1,00,000 each |
Short films
editShort films made in any Indian language and certified by the Central Board of Film Certification as a documentary/newsreel/fiction are eligible for non-feature film section.
Golden Lotus Award
editOfficial Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
| Award | Film | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Non-Feature Film | Ek Tha Gaon | Producer & Director: Srishti Lakhera | ₹1,50,000 each | |
| Best Director of Non-Feature Film | Smile Please | Hindi | Bakul Matiyani | ₹1,50,000 |
Silver Lotus Award
editOfficial Name: Rajat Kamal
All the Awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)' and cash prize.
| Award | Film | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Debut Non-Feature Film of A Director | Paanchika | Producer: Shreya Kapadiya Director: Ankit Kothari |
₹ 75,000/- each | |
| Best Biographical Film | Beyond Blast | Manipuri | Producer: Konjengbam Sushila Leima
Director: Saikhom Ratan |
₹ 50,000/- each |
| Rukhu Matir Dukhu Majhi | Bengali | Producer: Somnath Mondal Director: Somnath Mondal |
₹ 50,000/- each | |
| Best Arts / Cultural Film | T.N. Krishnan Bow Strings to Divine | Producer: Director: |
₹ 50,000/- each | |
| Best Environment Film | Munnam Valavu | Producer: Director: |
₹ 50,000/- each | |
| Best Promotional Film | Producer: Director: |
₹ 50,000/- each | ||
| Best Film on Other Social Issues | Mithu Di Three Two One | Producer: Director: |
₹150,000 each | |
| Producer: Director: | ||||
| Best Educational Film | Sirpigalin Sirpangal | Tamil | Producer: KKV Media Venture Director: B. Lenin |
₹ 50,000/- each |
| Best Ethnographic Film | Producer: Director: |
₹ 50,000/- each | ||
| Best Exploration Film | Ayushman | English Kannada |
Producer: Mathew Varghese Dinesh Rajkumar N. Naveen Francis Director: Jacob Varghese |
₹50,000/- each |
| Best Investigative Film | Looking for Challan | English | Producer: IGNCA Director: Bappa Ray |
₹50,000/- each |
| Best Animation Film | Kandittundu | Malayalam | Producer: Studio Eeksaurus Productions Pvt. Ltd. Director: Adithi Krishnadas |
₹50,000/- |
| Best Short Fiction Film | Dal Bhat | Gujarati | Producer & Director: Nemil Shah | ₹50,000/- each |
| Best Film on Family Values | Chand Saanse | Hindi | Producer: Chandrakant Kulkarni Director: Pratima Joshi |
₹50,000/- each |
| Best Cinematography | Pataal-Tee | Bhotiya | Bittu Rawat | ₹50,000/- each |
| Best Audiography | Ek Tha Gaon | Garhwali Hindi |
Re-recordist: Krishnanunni N R | ₹50,000/- |
| Best Location Sound Recordist (Location/Sync Sound) | Meen Raag | Rajasthani | Production Sound Recordist: Suruchi Sharma | ₹50,000/- |
| Best Editing | If Memory Serves Me Right | English | Abhro Banerjee | ₹50,000/- |
| Best Music Direction | Succulent | Hindi English Marathi |
Ishaan Divecha | ₹50,000/- |
| Best Narration / Voice Over | Hati Bondhu | English Assamese |
Kulada Kumar Bhattacharjee | ₹50,000/- |
| Special Jury Award | Rekha | Marathi | Shekhar Bapu Rankhambe | ₹1,00,000/- |
| Special Mention Award |
References
edit- ^ "Call for entries for 69th National Films Awards 2021". e-pao.net.
- ^ "69th National Film Awards for the year 2021 announce". Press Information Bureau. 24 August 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ^ "69th National Film Awards 2023 complete winners list: Rocketry, Alia Bhatt, Kriti Sanon, Allu Arjun, RRR, Gangubai Kathiawadi win big". 24 August 2023.
- ^ "Media Advisory for 69th National Film Awards". Press Information Bureau. 15 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
- ^ Live: Presentation Ceremony of the "69th National Film Awards" - 17 October 2023. DD National. 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023 – via YouTube.
- ^ "69th National Films Awards 2021" (PDF). NFDC.
- ^ The Indian Express (26 September 2023). "Waheeda Rehman honoured with Dadasaheb Phalke Award for contributions to Indian cinema, expemplifying 'strength of Bharatiya Nari'". Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.