72nd National Film Awards: Anant Nag Gets Dadasaheb Phalke Honour, Yami, Mammootty Shine

23 Sep 2026, Gujarat: Veteran Kannada actor Anant Nag was honoured with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award as the 72nd National Film Awards celebrated achievements in Indian cinema for 2024 at Ekta Nagar in Gujarat on Tuesday.

President Droupadi Murmu presented the awards at a ceremony held against the backdrop of the Statue of Unity. The event marked a significant moment for Nag, whose career spans more than five decades and includes work across Kannada and Indian cinema. He was selected for the Phalke honour in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema.

The evening also saw Article 370 emerge as the biggest winner among feature films. Directed by Aditya Suhas Jambhale, the Hindi film won the Best Feature Film award, while its lead actor Yami Gautam was named Best Actress in a Leading Role. The film also won Best Music Direction for Shashwat Sachdev, taking its total haul to three awards.

The Best Actor award was shared by two performers from very different films. Mammootty was honoured for his performance in the Malayalam film Bramayugam, while Kartik Aaryan won for his portrayal in Chandu Champion. For Mammootty, the honour adds another National Award to a career spanning several decades.

The directing honour went to Rajkumar Periasamy for the Tamil film Amaran. Actor-turned-director Randeep Hooda received the Best Debut Film of a Director award for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar.

Amaran also won Best Editing for R Kalaivannan, while G V Prakash Kumar was honoured for its background music. Meanwhile, Pushpa: The Rule Part-02 won Best Costume Design, adding another major recognition for the Telugu blockbuster.

Telugu cinema also made a strong showing through Sukumar, who received the Best Screenplay (Original) honour for Pushpa: The Rule Part-02. The recognition adds to the film's success at the National Film Awards, where it was also honoured for costume design.

Another major Telugu cinema honour went to producer Niharika Konidela, whose Committee Kurrollu won the Best Telugu Film award. The film also received recognition for Best Make-up, making it one of the notable Telugu winners at this year's National Film Awards.

The Telugu film industry received another significant boost through Kalki 2898 AD, which won two National Film Awards. The Nag Ashwin-directed science-fiction epic received the award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, with Vyjayanthi Movies and director Nag Ashwin named among the awardees. The film also won Best Production Design, with Nitin Zihani Choudhary receiving the honour.

The recognition for Kalki 2898 AD highlights the film's large-scale production and visual world-building, while its production design award acknowledges the creative work behind its futuristic and mythological settings.

In the supporting categories, Sanjay Mishra won Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Bhakshak. Sachana Namidass and Ropashree Varkady shared the Best Actress in a Supporting Role honours for Maharaja and Mithya, respectively.

Other notable winners included Manoj Muntashir for Best Lyrics for “Jaane Do” from Maidaan, Abhay Jodhpurkar for Best Male Playback Singer and Vaikom Vijayalakshmi for Best Female Playback Singer. Vijay Ganguly won Best Choreography for “Aaj Ki Raat” from Stree 2.

In the non-feature section, Bhangaar, directed and produced by Sumira Roy, received the Best Non-Feature Film award, while Ram-Nami was named Best Documentary.

The 72nd National Film Awards recognised achievements across feature films, non-feature films and writing on cinema. The winners were announced in July, while the formal presentation ceremony was held at Ekta Nagar in Gujarat on Tuesday. The awards recognised films certified during the 2024 calendar year.