President Droupadi Murmu presented the 72nd National Film Awards at Ekta Nagar in Gujarat on September 22.
It was the first time in the awards’ history that the ceremony was held outside Delhi.
Article 370 was named Best Feature Film, and Yami Gautam won Best Actress for the same film.
Mammootty and Kartik Aaryan shared the Best Actor award, for Bramayugam and Chandu Champion respectively.
President Murmu felicitated 92 winners in total.
President Droupadi Murmu presented the 72nd National Film Awards at Ekta Nagar in Gujarat on September 22, 2026.
It was the first time in the awards’ more than 70-year history that the ceremony was held outside Delhi.
Article 370 was adjudged the Best Feature Film.
Mammootty and Kartik Aaryan shared the Best Actor in a Leading Role award, for Bramayugam and Chandu Champion respectively.
Yami Gautam won the Best Actress in a Leading Role award for Article 370.
Actor Randeep Hooda was honoured with the Best Debut Director award for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar.
Bhangaar won the Best Non-Feature Film award.
Ram-Nami was selected as the Best Documentary.
Veteran Kannada actor Anant Nag received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2024, the highest honour in Indian cinema.
President Murmu felicitated a total of 92 winners at the ceremony.
The National Film Awards are given annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, part of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Holding the ceremony at Ekta Nagar, home to the Statue of Unity, marked a departure from the awards’ traditional Delhi venue.
The Gujarat Chief Minister was among those who joined President Murmu at the ceremony.
The National Film Awards recognise achievement across feature films, non-feature films and best writing on cinema, spanning multiple Indian languages.
The awards are decided by juries appointed by the Directorate of Film Festivals for each category.
Statue of Unity, Ekta Nagar, Gujarat (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
