National Film Awards 2026: Check the full list of Winners

Last Updated: Jul 18, 2026, 19:20 IST

72nd National Film Awards winners announced by CBFC. Explore the full list of winners, including the best actor, feature films and all category-wise award lists

72nd National Film Awards 2026: Complete Winners List

72nd National Film Awards have been announced by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting at the National Media Centre in New Delhi. Recognizing excellence in Indian cinema for films certified by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) between January 1 and December 31, 2024.

The 11-member national jury is headed by filmmaker Jayaraj. The competition spans 161 films across 24 languages.

Key highlights of the 72nd National Film Awards

Best Feature Film: Article 370
Best Actor (Shared): Kartik Aaryan for Chandu Champion, sharing with Malayalam cinema actor Mammootty for Bramayugam
Best Actress: Yami Gautam for Article 370
Best Popular Film providing wholesome entertainment: The science-fiction epic Kalki 2898 AD for its commercial accolade.

Complete Winners list in feature films category

Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) Awards

Category	Winner(s)	Film / Associated Work
Best Feature Film	Article 370	Produced by B62 Studios
Best Direction	Rajkumar Periasamy	Amaran
Best Debut Film of a Director	Randeep Hooda	Swatantrya Veer Savarkar
Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment	Kalki 2898 AD	Directed by Nag Ashwin
Best Children's Film	35-Chinna Katha Kaadu	Directed by Nanda Kishore Emani

In Acting and performance categories

Category	Winner(s)	Film / Language
Best Actor in a Leading Role	Kartik Aaryan and Mammootty	Chandu Champion (Hindi) and Bramayugam (Malayalam)
Best Actress in a Leading Role	Yami Gautam	Article 370 (Hindi)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Sanjay Mishra	Bhakshak (Hindi)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role	Sachana Namidass and Ropashree Varkady	Maharaja (Tamil) & Mithya (Kannada)
Best Child Artist	Arundev Pothula, Riddhiman Banerjee, Topomoy Deb, Gitashree Chakraborty and Athish S Shetty	35-Chinna Katha Kaadu, Onko Ki Kothin and Mithya

Regional Feature Film Winners

The national award celebrated the artistic diversity of regional language industries.The year's best films across different Indian languages

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 Tulu Film: Imbu
Best Garhwali Film: Dholi

Non-Feature film categories and cinema writing

The jury highlighted critical works in documentary filmmaking, short format cinema and academic publications beyond mainstream feature films

Top Non-Feature Film Winners

Best Direction (Non-Feature): Aanand L Rai for Statue of Unity for Ekta Ka Prateek
Best Non-Feature Film promoting Social and Environmental Values: Piplantri: A Tale of Eco Feminism - Suraj Kumar
Best Animation Film: Touched as Water - Joshy Benedict
Best Short Film: Hamsafar (Marathi)
Best Sound Design: Blue - T.S. Hari Hara Sudhan
Best Script: Obur (Clouds) -Faraz Ali

Best Writing on Cinema

Best Book on Cinema: Naaniruvude Nimagaagi Naadiruvude Nanagaagi: Kannada Cinemada Thathva Matthu Rajakeeya by Kenchanuru Pradeep Kumar Shetty
Best Film Critic: Sanjeev Shrivastava for outstanding contributions to Hindi film criticism

Screenwriting and Music Categories

Category	Winner(s)	Film / Track
Best Screenplay	Bandireddi Sukumar and Yogesh Deshpande	Pushpa 2: The Rule and Swargandharva Sudhir Phadke
Best Dialogue Writer	Venky Atluri	Lucky Baskhar
Best Music Direction (Songs)	Shashwat Sachdev and GV Prakash Kumar	Article 370 and Amaran
Best Music Direction (Background Score)	GV Prakash Kumar	Amaran
Best Lyrics	Manoj Muntashir	Jaane Do (Maidaan)
Best Playback Singer (Male)	Abhay Jodhpurkar	Navsachi Gauri Mazi (Gharat Ganpati)
Best Playback Singer (Female)	Vaikom Vijayalakshmi	Angu Vaana Konilu (ARM)

Technical Awards

Category	Winner(s)	Film
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 & Sheetal Sharma	Pushpa 2: The Rule
Best Make-up Artist	P Ravi Kumar	Committee Kurrollu
Best Action Direction	Ani Arasu	Maharaja
Best Choreography	Vijay Ganguly	Stree 2

The jury also gave special recognitions to Dhanush and Suren G for their exceptional individual acts of artistry that left an indelible mark on Indian cinema. Dhanush for his towering lead role in Captain Miller and Suren G for masterful sound mixing in Meiyazhagan.

Manisha Waldia

Executive - Editorial

Manisha Waldia is a distinguished content strategist with 5 years of experience crafting premium educational content for UPSC and State PCS, with a focus on deep conceptual analysis across Polity, Geography, History, and Environment. She currently brings this expertise to Jagran Josh, where she covers major national and international events, current affairs, and static general knowledge. Over her career, Manisha's specialized insights have led her to curate high-impact materials and serve as a UPSC Mains answer-evaluator for India’s top institutes—including Drishti IAS, Shubhra Ranjan IAS, Study IQ, GS Score, and PWonlyIAS. She has also worked alongside leading NGOs like Oxfam India and Avani Kumaon.

Contact: manisha.waldia@jagrannewmedia.com

First Published: Jul 18, 2026, 19:20 IST