The 72nd National Film Awards were announced on Friday, celebrating the best of Indian cinema across languages. This year's honours saw Hindi political drama Article 370 emerge as the biggest winner by bagging the Best Feature Film award, while Yami Gautam was named Best Actress for her powerful performance in the film. Veteran Malayalam superstar Mammootty and Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan shared the Best Actor award.
Tamil filmmaker Rajkumar Periasamy won the Best Director award for Amaran, which also claimed awards for Best Editing and Best Background Score. Kalki 2898 AD added another feather to its cap by winning the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, besides taking home the Best Production Design honour.
Telugu cinema also enjoyed a memorable outing. Committee Kurrollu was adjudged the Best Telugu Film, while P. Ravikumar won the Best Makeup Artist award for the same film. Venky Atluri received the Best Dialogue Writer honour for Lucky Baskhar, and Sukumar was recognised with the Best Original Screenplay award for Pushpa 2. Costume designers Deepali Noor and Sheetal Sharma were also honoured for their work in Pushpa 2, while 35 Chinna Katha Kaadu won the award for Best Children's Film.
Among the regional winners, Raayan won Best Tamil Film, Feminist Fathima was named Best Malayalam Film, Mithya (Illusion) won Best Kannada Film, Srikant bagged the Best Hindi Film, Maran: The Hunt won Best Gujarati Film, while Chalachitra Ekhon emerged as the Best Bengali Film. Captain Miller received the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Film on National Integration, while the film and actor Dhanush also earned a Special Mention.
The National Awards also recognised excellence in technical categories. Jalal won Best Cinematography for Bramayugam, Shashwat Sachdev received Best Music Director (Songs) for Article 370, GV Prakash Kumar won Best Background Score for Amaran, Vaikom Vijayalakshmi was named Best Female Playback Singer for ARM, while Abhay Jodhpurkar won Best Male Playback Singer.
72nd National Film Awards: Complete Winners List
Best Feature Film: Article 370
Best Popular Film: Kalki 2898 AD
Best Director: Rajkumar Periasamy (Amaran)
Best Actor: Mammootty & Kartik Aaryan (Joint Winners)
Best Actress: Yami Gautam (Article 370)
Best Telugu Film: Committee Kurrollu
Best Tamil Film: Raayan
Best Malayalam Film: Feminist Fathima
Best Kannada Film: Mithya (Illusion)
Best Hindi Film: Srikant
Best Gujarati Film: Maran: The Hunt
Best Bengali Film: Chalachitra Ekhon
Best Children's Film: 35 Chinna Katha Kaadu
Best Film on National Integration: Captain Miller
Best Original Screenplay: Sukumar (Pushpa 2)
Best Screenplay: Yogesh Deshpande
Best Dialogue Writer: Venky Atluri (Lucky Baskhar)
Best Cinematography: Jalal (Bramayugam)
Best Editing: Kalaivanan (Amaran)
Best Production Design: Nitin Zihani Choudhary (Kalki 2898 AD)
Best Costume Design: Deepali Noor & Sheetal Sharma (Pushpa 2)
Best Makeup: P. Ravikumar (Committee Kurrollu)
Best Sound Design: Manas Choudhary
Best Background Score: GV Prakash Kumar (Amaran)
Best Music Director (Songs): Shashwat Sachdev (Article 370)
Best Lyricist: Manoj Muntashir (Maidaan)
Best Female Playback Singer: Vaikom Vijayalakshmi (ARM)
Best Male Playback Singer: Abhay Jodhpurkar
Special Mention: Meiyazhagan
Special Mention: Captain Miller (Dhanush)
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