National Film Awards 2026 Highlights: Yami Gautam bags best actress, Mammootty & Kartik Aaryan share best actor

Jul 18, 2026 06:35 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Rajkumar Periasamy wins Best Director for Amaran

Jul 18, 2026 06:34 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Manas Choudhary wins Best Sound Design for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3

Jul 18, 2026 06:27 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Captain Miller wins Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social and Environmental Values

Jul 18, 2026 06:27 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Shashwat Sachdev wins Best Music Direction (Songs) for Article 370

Jul 18, 2026 06:26 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Kalki 2898 AD wins Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment

Jul 18, 2026 06:26 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Kartik Aaryan and Mammootty share the Best Actor award

• Kartik Aaryan is honoured for Chandu Champion.
• Mammootty receives the award for Bramayugam.

Jul 18, 2026 06:19 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Yami Gautam wins Best Actress

She receives the National Award for her performance in Article 370

Jul 18, 2026 06:18 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Sanjay Mishra wins Best Supporting Actor

He receives the honour for his performance in Bhakshak.

Jul 18, 2026 06:17 PM

Non-Feature Categories

• Best Non-Feature Film: Bhangaar (Obsolete)
• Best Debut Film of a Director: Angen (Invisible) – Ravi Raj Murmu
• Best Documentary: Ram-Nami
• Best Non-Feature Film Promoting Social & Environmental Values: Piplantri: A Tale of Eco Feminism
• Best Animation Film: Touched as Water
• Best Short Film (Up to 30 Minutes): Hamsafar
• Best Direction: Aanand L Rai (Statue of Unity – Ekta ka Prateek)
• Best Cinematography: Edmond Ranson (Life in Loom)
• Best Sound Design: T. S. Hari Hara Sudhan (Blue)
• Best Editing: Manvir Jasrotia (NDA)
• Best Music Direction: Shivpal Singh Kang (Parat 41°chya Magavar)
• Best Narrator/Voice Over: Soundarya Jayachandran (Little Planet: A Tale of Frogs)
• Best Arts/Culture Film: Main Nida
• Best Biographical/Historical Reconstruction Film: Kakori
• Best Film Critic: Sanjeev Shrivastava (Hindi)
• Best Book on Cinema: Naaniruvude Nimagaagi Naadiruvude Nanagaagi: Kannada Cinemada Thathva Matthu Rajakeeya by Kenchanuru Pradeep Kumar Shetty
• Special Mention: Bhadra-Kali Natakam (Malayalam), Chola Dora aur Sui (Hindi)

Jul 18, 2026 06:17 PM

Best Feature Film by Language

• Best Assamese Film: Pending
• 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 Punjabi Film: Pending
• Best Tamil Film: Raayan
• Best Tai Phake Film: Pending
• Best Garo Film: Pending
• Best Telugu Film: Committee Kurrollu
• Best Gujarati Film: Maaran
• Best Manipuri Film: Sunita
• Best Konkani Film: Mog Asum
• Special Mention: Meiyazhagan – Sound Mix Engineer Suren G

Jul 18, 2026 06:17 PM

Feature Categories

• Best Feature Film: Pending
• Best Director: Pending
• Best Actor: Kartik Aaryan, Mammootty
• Best Actress: Yami Gautam (Article 370)
• Best Supporting Actor: Sanjay Mishra
• Best Supporting Actress: Roopa Shree Varkady (Mithya), Sachana Namidass (Maharaja)
• Best Feature Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Pending
• Best Film Promoting National, Social Values: Pending
• Best Child Artist: Riddhiman Banerjee, Tapomoy Deb & Gitashree Chakraborty
• Best Cinematography: Shehnad Jalal (Bramayugam)
• Best Screenplay (Original): Sukumar (Pushpa 2: The Rule)
• Best Screenplay (Dialogue): Venky Atluri (Lucky Baskhar)
• Best Screenplay (Adapted): Yogesh Deshpande
• Best Production Design: Kalki 2898 AD
• Best Action Direction: Anl Arasu (Maharaja)
• Best Make-Up Artist: Committee Kurrollu
• Best Costume Design: Deepali Noor & Sheetal Sharma (Pushpa 2: The Rule)
• Best Music Direction (Songs): Shashwat Sachdev (Article 370)
• Best Music Direction (Background Score): Amaran
• Best Lyrics: Pending
• Best Male Playback Singer: Abhay Jodhpurkar – "Navasachi Gauri Mazi" (Gharat Ganpati)
• Best Female Playback Singer: Vaikom Vijayalakshmi – "Angu Vaana Konilu" (ARM)
• Best Choreography: Vijay Ganguly (Stree 2)
• Best Sound Design: Manas Choudhury (Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3)
• Best Editing: R. Kalaivannan (Amaran)

Jul 18, 2026 06:15 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Roopa Shree Varkady and Sachana Namidass share the Best Supporting Actress award

• Roopa Shree Varkady is honoured for Mithya (Kannada).
• Sachana Namidass receives the award for Maharaja (Tamil).

Jul 18, 2026 06:12 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Abhay Jodhpurkar wins Best Male Playback Singer

Jul 18, 2026 06:11 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Vaikom Vijayalakshmi wins Best Female Playback Singer for ARM (Malayalam)

Jul 18, 2026 06:11 PM

72nd National Film Awards:

•  Venky Atluri wins Best Screenplay (Dialogue) for Lucky Baskhar (Telugu).
• Yogesh Deshpande wins Best Screenplay (Adapted).
• Sukumar (Bandreddi Sukumar) wins Best Screenplay (Original) for Pushpa 2: The Rule.

Jul 18, 2026 06:10 PM

Jul 18, 2026 06:09 PM

72nd National Film Awards: R. Kalaivanan wins Best Editing for Amaran

Jul 18, 2026 06:09 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Deepali Noor and Sheetal Sharma win Best Costume Design for Pushpa 2: The Rule

Jul 18, 2026 06:07 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Vijay Ganguly wins Best Choreography for Stree 2

Jul 18, 2026 06:07 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Vijay Ganguly wins Best Choreography

Vijay Ganguly receives the National Award for his choreography in Stree 2

Jul 18, 2026 06:06 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Maharaja wins Best Action Direction

Anl Arasu receives the award for his outstanding stunt choreography in the film.

The action sequences in Maharaja were widely appreciated for their intensity, realism, and execution.

Jul 18, 2026 06:05 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Best Bengali Film

Best Bengali Film: Chalchitra Ekhon

Director: Anjan Dutt

Producer: Anjan Dutt

Jul 18, 2026 06:04 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Best Hindi Film

Best Hindi Film: Srikanth

Director: Tushar Hiranandani

Lead Actor: Rajkummar Rao

Jul 18, 2026 06:04 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Best Kannada Film

Best Kannada Film: Mithya (Illusion)

Director: Sumanth Bhat

Jul 18, 2026 06:01 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Best Malayalam Film

Best Malayalam Film: Feminichi Fathima

Director: Fasil Muhammed

Jul 18, 2026 06:01 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Best Tamil and Telugu Film

Best Tamil Film: Raayan

Best Telugu Film: Committee Kurrollu

Jul 18, 2026 06:01 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Best Script

Best Script: Obur (Clouds)

Languages: Hindi and Kashmiri

Writer: Faraz Ali

Jul 18, 2026 06:00 PM

Jul 18, 2026 05:59 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Special Mention in Non-Feature Film Category

161 non-feature films in 24 languages were submitted across 16 categories.

Special Mention was awarded to:

Chola Dora aur Sui

Bhadra Kali Natakam

Jul 18, 2026 05:59 PM

72nd National Film Awards: Key Winners

Best Film Critic: Sanjeev Srivastava (Hindi)

Best Book on Cinema: Naaniruvude Nimagaagi Naadiruvude Nanagaagi: Kannada Cinemada Thathva Matthu Rajakeeya (I Stand for You, the State Stands for Us: Political and Philosophical Dimensions of Kannada Cinema)

Author: Kenchanuru Pradeep Kumar Shetty

Jul 18, 2026 05:58 PM

Meet the Jury

The winners of the 72nd National Film Awards were chosen by an 11-member jury led by noted filmmaker Jayaraj. Having earlier served on the National Film Awards jury in 2012, Jayaraj returned to head this year's selection panel. The jury carefully evaluated films from across India before finalising the winners across various categories.