72nd National Film Awards 2026 Winners List: Who Won What?

The Indian National Film Awards, granted by the Government of India to the best artists, directors, writers, and technicians of the Indian film industry, are the most prestigious acclaim a film and its makers can get in India. In the 72nd National Film Awards 2026 announced on July 18, 2026, Indian movies released in 2024 were recognized. Films from Bollywood, as well as regional language film industries such as South Indian, Marathi, Odia, Bengali, Assamese, Gujarati, Konkani, and Manipuri, competed against each other across countless categories. Out of so many films in competition, check out the 72nd National Film Awards winners list to know who won what.

Who Are The Winners Of The 72nd National Film Awards 2026?

Below is the 72nd National Film Awards winners list 2026, which includes the best movies, actors, actresses, directors, singers, musicians, and others from the year 2024 across various categories.

Feature Films

Best Feature Film: Article 370

Best Children’s Film: 35-Chinna Katha Kaadu

Best Actor in a Leading Role: Kartik Aaryan for Chandu Champion and Mammootty for Bramayugam

Best Actress in a Leading Role: Yami Gautam for Article 370

Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Sanjay Mishra for Bhakshak

Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Ropashree Varkady for Mithya and Sachana Namidass for Maharaja

Best Direction: Rajkumar Periasamy for Amaran

Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Kalki 2898 AD

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

Best Bengali Feature Film: Chalchitra Ekhon

Best Hindi Feature Film: Srikanth

Best Kannada Feature Film: Mithya

Best Malayalam Feature Film: Feminichi Fathima

Best Marathi Feature Film: Mukkam Post Bombilwadi

Best Tamil Feature Film: Raayan

Best Telugu Feature Film: Committee Kurrollu

Best Assamese Feature Film: Juiphool

Best Gujarati Feature Film: Maaran

Best Odia Feature Film: Lahari

Best Konkani Feature Film: Mog Asum

Best Manipuri Feature Film: Sunita

Best Tulu Feature Film: IMBU

Best Garhwali Feature Film: Dholi

Best Child Artist: Riddhiman Banerjee, Tapomoy Deb, & Gitashree Chakraborty for Onko Ki Kothin, Arundev Pothula for 35-Chinna Katha Kaadu, and Athish S Shetty for Mithya

Best Male Playback Singer: Abhay Jodhpurkar for Navasachi Gauri Mazi from Gharat Ganpati

Best Female Playback Singer: Vaikom Vijayalakshmi for Angu Vaana Konilu from A.R.M

Best Music Direction: G V Prakash Kumar for Amaran (BGM) and Shashwat Sachdev for Article 370 (songs)

Best Lyrics: Manoj Muntashir for Jaane Do from Maidaan

Best Screenplay: Bandreddi Sukumar for Pushpa 2: The Rule (screenplay writer – original), Yogesh Deshpande for Swargandharva Sudhir Phadke (screenplay writer – adapted), and Venky Atluri for Lucky Bhaskar (dialogues)

Best Cinematography: Shehnad Jalal for Bramayugam

Best Sound Design: Manas Choudhury for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3

Best Editing: R Kalaivannan for Amaran

Best Production Design: Nitin Zihani Choudhary for Kalki 2898 AD

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

Best Choreography: Vijay Ganguly for Aaj Ki Raat from Stree 2

Best Make-up: P Ravi Kumar for Committee Kurrollu

Best Action Direction (Stunt Choreography): Anl Arasu for Maharaja

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

Special Mention: Dhanush for Captain Miller and Suren G for Meiyazhagan

Non-Feature Films

Best Non-Feature Film: Sumira Roy for Bhangaar

Best Debut Film of a Director: Ravi Raj Murmu for Angen

Best Direction: Aanand L Rai for Statue of Unity – Ekta ka Prateek

Best Animation Film: Touched as Water

Best Arts / Cultural Film: Main Nida (Hindi)

Best Short Film: Hamsafar (Marathi)

Best Cinematography: Edmond Ranson for Life in Loom

Best Editing: Manvir Jasrotia for NDA

Best Sound Design: T S Hari Hara Sudhan for Blue

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

Best Narration / Voice Over: Soundarya Jayachandran for Little Planet : A Tale of Frogs

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

Best Biographical / Historical Reconstruction / Compilation Film: Kakori (Hindi)

Best Documentary: Ram-Nami (Hindi)

Best Script: Obur

Best Book on Cinema: Naaniruvude Nimagaagi Naadiruvude Nanagaagi: Kannada Cinemada Thathva Matthu Rajakeeya; Author: Kenchanuru Pradeep Kumar Shetty

Best Film Critic: Sanjeev Shrivastava

What to Expect from the 72nd National Film Awards?

The 72nd National Film Awards 2026 date of announcement was earlier supposed to be on July 3, 2026, but was later postponed to July 18, 2026. On the fixed date, the best films, performances, filmmakers, and other team members from the best films released in 2024 were awarded for their work.​

As with other award functions, no list of nominations is released for the National Film Awards. While there are no official 72nd National Film nominations, there are several films and performances from 2024 that fans believed deserve acclaim. Popular choices among fans included Bramayugam (Mammootty), Kalki 2898 AD, The Goat Life (Prithviraj Sukumaran), Pushpa 2: The Rule (Allu Arjun), Ajay Devgn (Maidaan), Amaran (Sai Pallavi), Devara (Ayudha Pooja song), and more.

How Do National Film Awards Nominations And Voting Work?

The winners of the Indian National Film Awards are not chosen by the public or government but by juries of filmmakers, artists, and critics appointed by the Government of India. For a film to be deemed eligible for a national film award, it must be submitted by its makers through the official portal of the National Film Development Corporation after meeting specific criteria. These eligibility criteria state that the submitted film should be created by Indian nationals, produced in India, and certified by the CBFC in the respective year. After the calendar reaches the movie submission deadline, films from each region are reviewed by regional juries. After the regional jury shortlists some films, the final winner in each category is chosen by a central committee.

What Are the Major Highlights of the 72nd National Film Awards?

The 72nd National Film Awards 2024 have been officially announced. In these awards, there were many categories whose results are more anticipated than the others. These categories included the 72nd National Film Awards best actor & actresses (lead & supporting), direction, debut director, Indian feature film, individual feature films in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam, playback singers (male & female), and screenplay.

When and Where to watch the 72nd National Film Awards?

If you wish to know when and where to watch the 72nd National Film Awards live telecast, then your answer is here. On the finalized date and time for the 72nd National Film Awards, all the winners were officially announced on the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s official social media channels, along with Doordarshan National (DD News). After the announcement, all the results are available on the official portal of the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC).

An award ceremony would take place much later, after the announcement at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, where the President of India would present all awards to the respective winners. This award ceremony would also be telecast live. Stay tuned to Inside Box Office for future updates on the best Bollywood and South Indian movies winning national awards, along with their reviews and box office collection updates.