The National Film Award for Best Feature Film is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organization set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with the Golden Lotus (Swarna Kamal).
Since 2017, the award has been given annually to films produced nationwide in various Indian languages. It includes a Swarna Kamal, and a cash prize of ₹ 2,50,000 and is presented to the producer and the director of the film.
Best Feature Film Award: Winners
The films in the following languages have won the Best Feature Film award:
| Term | Year | Film(s) | Language(s) | Producer(s) | Director(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1953 | Shyamchi Aai | Marathi | Pralhad Keshav Atre | Pralhad Keshav Atre |
| 2nd | 1954 | Mirza Ghalib | Hindi | Sohrab Modi | Sohrab Modi |
| 3rd | 1955 | Pather Panchali | Bengali | Government of West Bengal | Satyajit Ray |
| 4th | 1956 | Kabuliwala | Bengali | Charuchitra | Tapan Sinha |
| 5th | 1957 | Do Aankhen Barah Haath | Hindi | V. Shantaram | V. Shantaram |
| 6th | 1958 | Sagar Sangamey | Bengali | De Luxe Film Distributors | Debaki Bose |
| 7th | 1959 | Apur Sansar | Bengali | Satyajit Ray Productions | Satyajit Ray |
| 8th | 1960 | Anuradha | Hindi | Hrishikesh Mukherjee, L. B. Thakur | Hrishikesh Mukherjee |
| 9th | 1961 | Bhagini Nivedita | Bengali | Aurora Film Corporation | Bijoy Bose |
| 10th | 1962 | Dada Thakur | Bengali | Shyamlal Jalan | Sudhir Mukherjee |
| 11th | 1963 | Shehar Aur Sapna | Hindi | Naya Sansar | Khwaja Ahmad Abbas |
| 12th | 1964 | Charulata | Bengali | R. D. Bansal | Satyajit Ray |
| 13th | 1965 | Chemmeen | Malayalam | Babu Ismail Settu | Ramu Kariat |
| 14th | 1966 | Teesri Kasam | Hindi | Shailendra | Basu Bhattacharya |
| 15th | 1967 | Hatey Bazarey | Bengali | Asim Dutta | Tapan Sinha |
| 16th | 1968 | Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne | Bengali | Nepal Dutta, Asim Dutta | Satyajit Ray |
| 17th | 1969 | Bhuvan Shome | Hindi | Mrinal Sen Productions | Mrinal Sen |
| 18th | 1970 | Samskara | Kannada | Pattabhirama Reddy | Pattabhirama Reddy |
| 19th | 1971 | Seemabaddha | Bengali | Bharat Shamsher, Jang Bahadur Rana | Satyajit Ray |
| 20th | 1972 | Swayamvaram | Malayalam | Adoor Gopalakrishnan | Adoor Gopalakrishnan |
| 21st | 1973 | Nirmalyam[a] | Malayalam | M. T. Vasudevan Nair | M. T. Vasudevan Nair |
| 22nd | 1974 | Chorus[b] | Bengali | Mrinal Sen Productions | Mrinal Sen |
| 23rd | 1975 | Chomana Dudi | Kannada | Praja Films | B. V. Karanth |
| 24th | 1976 | Mrigayaa | Hindi | Uday Bhaskar International | Mrinal Sen |
| 25th | 1977 | Ghatashraddha | Kannada | Sadanand Suvarna | Girish Kasaravalli |
| 26th | 1978 | No Award | |||
| 27th | 1979 | Shodh | Hindi | Sitakant Misra, Biplab Roy Choudhary | |
| 28th | 1980 | Akaler Shandhaney | Bengali | D. K. Films | Mrinal Sen |
| 29th | 1981 | Dakhal | Bengali | West Bengal Film Industry | Gautam Ghose |
| 30th | 1982 | Chokh | Bengali | Department of Information, Cultural Affairs India, Government of West Bengal | Utpalendu Chakrabarty |
| 31st | 1983 | Adi Shankaracharya | Sanskrit | NFDC | G. V. Iyer |
| 32nd | 1984 | Damul | Hindi | Prakash Jha Productions | Prakash Jha |
| 33rd | 1985 | Chidambaram | Malayalam | G. Aravindan | G. Aravindan |
| 34th | 1986 | Tabarana Kathe | Kannada | Girish Kasaravalli | Girish Kasaravalli |
| 35th | 1987 | Halodhia Choraye Baodhan Khai | Assamese | Sailadhar Baruah, Jahnu Barua | Jahnu Barua |
| 36th | 1988 | Piravi | Malayalam | Film Folks | Shaji N. Karun |
| 37th | 1989 | Bagh Bahadur | Bengali | Buddhadeb Dasgupta | Buddhadeb Dasgupta |
| 38th | 1990 | Marupakkam | Tamil | NFDC | K. S. Sethumadhavan |
| 39th | 1991 | Agantuk | Bengali | NFDC | Satyajit Ray |
| 40th | 1992 | Bhagwat Gita | Sanskrit | T. Subbarami Reddy | G. V. Iyer |
| 41st | 1993 | Charachar | Bengali | Gita Gope, Shankar Gope | Buddhadeb Dasgupta |
| 42nd | 1994 | Unishe April | Bengali | Renu Roy | Rituparno Ghosh |
| 43rd | 1995 | Kathapurushan | Malayalam | Adoor Gopalakrishnan | Adoor Gopalakrishnan |
| 44th | 1996 | Lal Darja | Bengali | Chitrani Lahiri, Dulal Roy | Buddhadeb Dasgupta |
| 45th | 1997 | Thaayi Saheba | Kannada | Jayamala | Girish Kasaravalli |
| 46th | 1998 | Samar | Hindi | Shyam Benegal, Sahyadri Films, NFDC | Shyam Benegal |
| 47th | 1999 | Vanaprastham | Malayalam | Pranavam Arts | Shaji. N Karun |
| 48th | 2000 | Shantham | Malayalam | P. V. Gangadharan | Jayaraj |
| 49th | 2001 | Dweepa | Kanada | Soundarya | Girish Kasaravalli |
| 50th | 2002 | Mondo Meyer Upakhyan | Bengali | Arya Bhattacharya | Buddhadeb Dasgupta |
| 51st | 2003 | Shwaas | Marathi | Arun Nalawade | Sandeep Sawant |
| 52nd | 2004 | Page 3 | Hindi | Bobby Pushkarna | Madhur Bhandarkar |
| 53rd | 2005 | Kaalpurush | Bengali | Jhamu Sughand | Buddhadeb Dasgupta |
| 54th | 2006 | Pulijanmam | Malayalam | M.G Vijay | Priyanandanan |
| 55th | 2007 | Kanchivaram | Tamil | Percept Picture Company | Priyadarshan |
| 56th | 2008 | Antaheen | Bengali | Screenplay Films | Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury |
| 57th | 2009 | Kutty Srank | Malayalam | Reliance Big Pictures | Shaji N. Karun |
| 58th | 2010 | Adaminte Makan Abu | Malayalam | • Salim Ahamed • Ashraf Bedi | Salim Ahamed |
| 59th | 2011 | Deool Byari | Marathi Beary | AAltaaf Hussain | Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni Suveeran |
| 60th | 2012 | Paan Singh Tomar | Hindi | UTV Software Communications | Tigmanshu Dhulia |
| 61st | 2013 | Ship of Theseus | English/Hindi | Recyclewala Films Pvt. Ltd. | Anand Gandhi |
| 62nd | 2014 | Court | • Marathi • Hindi • Gujarati • English | Zoo Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. | Chaitanya Tamhane |
| 63rd | 2015 | Baahubali: The Beginning | Telugu | • Shobu Yarlagadda • Arka Media Works (P) LTD. | S. S. Rajamouli |
| 64th | 2016 | Kaasav | Marathi | • Sumitra Bhave • Sunil Sukthankar • Mohan Agashe | Sumitra Bhave • Sunil Sukthankar |
| 65th | 2017 | Village Rockstars | Assamese | Rima Das | Rima Das |
| 66th | 2018 | Hellaro | Gujarati | Saarthi Productions LLP | Abhishek Shah |
| 67th | 2019 | Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea | Malayalam | Antony Perumbavoor | Priyadarshan |
| 68th | 2020 | Soorarai Pottru | Tamil | • Suriya• Jyothika • Rajsekar Pandian • Guneet Monga | Sudha Kongara |
| 69th | 2021 | Rocketry: The Nambi Effect | Tamil Hindi English | Rocketry Entertainment LLP | R Madhavan |
National Film Award for Best Feature Film – History
The National Film Awards were established in 1954 to “encourage the production of the films of a high aesthetic and technical excellence standard and educational and cultural value” and also planned to include awards for regional films.
The awards were instituted as “State Awards for Films” but were renamed to “National Film Awards” at the 15th National Film Awards in 1967.
However, in 2017 the award was one of six Swarna Kamal awards presented for the feature films. The honoured film is included in the annual International Film Festival Of India.
Since its beginning in 1953, the producer of the film is awarded with a gold medal and a certificate. A cash prize of ₹ 20,000 was introduced at the 5th National Film Awards (1957) and was revised to ₹ 40,000 at the 18th National Film Awards (1970), to ₹ 50,000 at the 28th National Film Awards (1980), to ₹ 2,50,000 at the 54th National Film Awards (2006).
From 1953 to 1956, the film director received a gold medal as an award, which was subsequently changed with a cash prize of ₹ 5,000 in 1957. Between 1967 and 1973, in addition to the cash prize to be increased to ₹ 10,000 in 1970, a plaque was also awarded to the director.
The 22nd National Film Awards (1974) introduced the Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus) award for directors, accompanied by a cash prize of ₹ 15,000. This amount was subsequently increased to ₹ 20,000 at the 25th National Film Awards (1977).
Since the 28th National Film Awards (1980), the director has been honored with the Swarna Kamal and a cash prize initially set at ₹25,000, later increased to ₹50,000 at the same edition. This amount was further revised to ₹2,50,000 at the 54th National Film Awards (2006).
In 1973 and 1974, the lead actor and actress of the film were also awarded. P. J. Antony and Sumithra received a souvenir for the Malayalam film Nirmalyam at the 21st National Film Awards (1973).
Antony also received the Best Actor Award, which was then recognized as the “Bharat Award for Best Actor”. Additionally, Gita Sen and Utpal Dutt were awarded a medallion for their work in the Bengali film “Chorus” at the 22nd National Film Award (1974).
List of National Film Awards for Best Feature Film: Language Wise:
| Languages | Awards |
| Hindi | 12 |
| Bengali | 22 |
| Malayalam | 12 |
| Kanada | 6 |
| Telugu | 1 |
| Beary | 1 |
| Marathi | 5 |
| Tamil | 4 |
| Assamese | 2 |
| Sanskrit | 2 |
| Gujarati | 1 |
Directors with Number of Awards:
| Director | Number of Awards |
|---|---|
| Satyajit Ray | 6 |
| Buddhadeb Dasgupta | 5 |
| Girish Kasaravalli | 4 |
| Mrinal Sen | 4 |
| Shaji N. Karun | 3 |
| Adoor Gopalakrishnan | 2 |
| Tapan Sinha | 2 |
| G. V. Iyer | 2 |
| Priyadarshan | 2 |
| M. T. Vasudevan Nair | 1 |
| Sandeep Sawant | 1 |
| Salim Ahamed | 1 |
| Suveeran | 1 |
| Anand Gandhi | 1 |
| Chaitanya Tamhane | 1 |
| Abhishek Shah | 1 |
National Award For the Best Feature Film:
| Category | National Film Award for Best Feature Film |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best Feature Film of the year |
| Sponsored by | Directorate of Film Festivals |
| Formerly called | President’s Gold Medal for Best Feature Film |
| Reward(s) | Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) |
| ₹ 2,50,000/- | |
| First awarded | 1953 |
| Last awarded | 2021 |
| Most recent winner | Rocketry: The Nambi Effect |
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