The 72nd National Film Awards ceremony took place on Tuesday, September 22, at Ekta Nagar in Kevadia, Gujarat, marking the first time in more than seven decades that the prestigious ceremony is being held outside New Delhi. President Droupadi Murmu presented the honours at a ceremony held against the backdrop of the Statue of Unity.
72nd National Film Awards 2026: Feature Film Winners
Best Feature Film: Article 370
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 Director: Rajkumar Periasamy for Amaran
Best Supporting Actor: Sanjay Mishra for Bhakshak
Best Supporting Actress: Ropashree Varkady for Mithya and Sachana Namidass for Maharaja
Best Feature Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Kalki 2898 AD
Best Film Promoting National, Social Values: Captain Miller
Best Debut Film of a Director: Randeep Hooda for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar
Best Child Artist: Riddhiman Banerjee, Tapomoy Deb, Gitashree Chakraborty, Arundev Pothula and Athish S Shetty
Best Cinematography: Shehnad Jalaal for Bramayugam
Best Screenplay (Original): Sukumar for Pushpa 2
Best Dialogue Writer: Venky Atluri for Lucky Baskhar
Best Production Design: Kalki 2898 AD
Best Action Direction: Anl Arasu for Maharaja
Best Make-Up Artist: P Ravi Kumar for Committee Kurrollu
Best Costume Design: Deepali Noor and Sheetal Sharma for Pushpa 2
Best Music Direction for Songs: Shashwat Sachdev for Article 370
Best Background Music: GV Prakash for Amaran
Best Lyrics: Manoj Muntashir for Maidaan
Best Male Playback Singer: Abhay Jodhpurkar for “Navasachi Gauri Mazi” from Gharat Ganpati
Best Female Playback Singer: Vaikom Vijayalakshmi for “Angu Vaana Konilu” from ARM
Best Choreography: Vijay Ganguly for Stree 2
Best Sound Design: Manas Choudhury for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3
Best Editing: R Kalaivannan for Amaran
72nd National Film Awards 2026: Regional Film Winners
Best Assamese Film: Juiphool
Best Bengali Film: Chalchitra Ekhon
Best Hindi Film: Srikanth
Best Kannada Film: Mithya
Best Malayalam Film: Feminichi Fathima
Best Marathi Film: Mukkam Post Bombilwadi
Best Odia Film: Lahari
Best Tamil Film: Raayan
Best Garhwali Film: Dholi
Best Telugu Film: Committee Kurrollu
Best Gujarati Film: Maaran
Best Manipuri Film: Sunita
Best Konkani Film: Mog Asum
Best Tulu Film: IMBU
72nd National Film Awards 2026: Non-Feature Film Winners
Best Non-Feature Film: Bhangaar (Obsolete) — Marathi and English; Producer and Director: Sumira Roy
Best Documentary: Ram-Nami — Director: Bharatbala Ganapathy
Best Arts/Culture Film: Main Nida — Director: Atul Pandey
Best Animation Film: Touched as Water (Silent) — Director and Animator: Joshy Benedict
Best Short Film (Up to 30 Minutes): Hamsafar — Director: Abhijeet Arvind Dalvi
Best Non-Feature Film Promoting Social and Environmental Values: Piplantri: A Tale of Eco Feminism — Director: Suraj Kumar
Best Biographical/Historical Reconstruction/Compilation Film: Kakori — Director: Kamlesh K Mishra
Best Debut Film of a Director: Angen (Invisible) — Director: Ravi Raj Murmu
Best Narrator/Voice Over: Soundarya Jayachandran for Little Planet: A Tale of Frogs
Best Music Direction: Shivpal Singh Kang for Parat 41°chya Magavar
Best Editing: Manvir Jasrotia for NDA
Best Sound Design: T S Hari Hara Sudhan for Blue
Best Cinematography: Edmond Ranson for Life in Loom
Best Direction: Aanand L Rai for Statue of Unity – Ekta Ka Prateek
