National Film Awards
The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...
, presented by
Directorate of Film Festivals
The Directorate of Film Festivals in India was an organisation that initiated and presented the International Film Festival of India, the National Film Awards and the Indian Panorama. Although the Directorate helped appoint members of the jur ...
Indian Cinema
The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...
released in the year 2006.
Three different committees were instituted in order to judge the various entries for feature film, non-feature film and best writing on cinema sections; headed by National award winner director,
Buddhadeb Dasgupta
Buddhadeb Dasgupta (11 February 1944 – 10 June 2021) was an Indian filmmaker and poet best known for his Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali-language films like ''Bagh Bahadur'', ''Tahader Katha'', ''Charachar'' and ''Uttara (film), Uttara''. Five ...
, for feature films and K. Bikram Singh along with Madhu Jain for Non-feature films and best writing on cinema sections, respectively.
Each chairperson announced the award on 10 June 2008 for their respective sections and award ceremony took place at
Vigyan Bhavan
Vigyan Bhawan ("science building") is a premier conference centre of the Government of India in New Delhi. Built in 1956, over the years it has been the venue of conferences of national and international stature, seminars and award ceremonies a ...
, New Delhi with
President of India
The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...
,
Pratibha Patil
Prathibha DeviSingh Patil (born 19 December 1934) is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the 12th president of India spanning from 2007 to 2012. She is the first woman to become the president of India. A member of the Indian National ...
giving away the awards on 2 September 2008.
Awards
Awards were divided into feature films, non-feature films and books written on Indian cinema.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Along with Dadasaheb Phalke Award, another one special lifetime achievement award was also given to commemorate the 60th year of Indian Independence. Award was given to veteran actors,
Dilip Kumar
Mohammed Yusuf Khan (; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021), better known by his stage name Dilip Kumar, was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated the Indian movie scene from lat ...
and
B. Saroja Devi
Bangalore Saroja Devi (born 7 January 1938) is an Indian actress who has acted in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. She acted in around 200 films in over six decades. She is known by the epithets "''Abhinaya Saraswathi''" (Saraswathi of ...
along with
Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...
. Incidentally, Lata Mangeshkar and Dilip Kumar were already awarded with Dadasaheb Phalke Award for their contribution to Indian cinema at the 37th and
42nd National Film Awards
The 42nd National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1994. Ceremony took place in 199 ...
respectively.
Feature Films
Films made in any Indian language shot on 16 mm, 35 mm or in a wider gauge or digital format but released on a film format or video/digital but certified by the Central Board of Film Certification as a feature film or featurette are eligible for Feature Film section.
Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For 54th National Film Awards, a
Malayalam film
Malayalam cinema is an Indian cinema, Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ...
, ''
Pulijanmam
''Pulijanmam'' (Malayalam: പുലിജന്മം, English translation : Metamorphosis of a Man to a Tiger ) is a Malayalam feature film directed by Priyanandanan. It stars Murali, Vineeth Kumar, Salim Kumar, Samvrutha Sunil and Sindhu Men ...
'' won the
National Film Award for Best Feature Film
The National Award for Best Feature Film is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India. It is one of sev ...
; whereas a Konkani film, ''Antarnad'' along with a
Hindi film
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
, ''
Lage Raho Munna Bhai
''Lage Raho Munna Bhai'' (; ) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language satirical comedy drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who co-wrote the screenplay with Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It is the follow-up ...
Buddhadeb Dasgupta
Buddhadeb Dasgupta (11 February 1944 – 10 June 2021) was an Indian filmmaker and poet best known for his Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali-language films like ''Bagh Bahadur'', ''Tahader Katha'', ''Charachar'' and ''Uttara (film), Uttara''. Five ...
was appointed to evaluate the feature films awards. Following were the jury members:
* Jury Members
**
Buddhadeb Dasgupta
Buddhadeb Dasgupta (11 February 1944 – 10 June 2021) was an Indian filmmaker and poet best known for his Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali-language films like ''Bagh Bahadur'', ''Tahader Katha'', ''Charachar'' and ''Uttara (film), Uttara''. Five ...
(
Chairperson
The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
)
Rahul Dholakia
Rahul Dholakia is an Indian film director- producer-screenwriter, most known for his National Film Award-winning film, ''Parzania '' (Heaven & Hell On Earth) (2005),P. Sheshadri
Ratnottama Sengupta
Ratnottama Sengupta (born January 27, 1955) is an Indian film journalist, festival curator/organiser and author. She is a recipient of the National Film Award, and has served on several international film juries. She is the daughter of scriptwrit ...
Ashok Rane
Ashok Rane is a two-time National Award-winning film critic, the director of the Indian Film Academy, a professor of film studies for 35 years, film mentor, coorditator-Maharashtra Film and Stage Cultural Development Corporation, and an author.
...
All India Award
Following were the awards given:
= Golden Lotus Award
=
Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
= Silver Lotus Award
=
Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
Regional Awards
The award is given to best film in the regional languages in India.
Best Feature Film in Each of the Language Other Than Those Specified In the Schedule VIII of the Constitution
Non-Feature Films
Films made in any Indian language shot on 16 mm, 35 mm or in a wider gauge or digital format and released on either film format or video/digital but certified by the Central Board of Film Certification as a documentary/newsreel/fiction are eligible for non-feature film section.
Juries
A committee headed by K. Bikram Singh was appointed to evaluate the non-feature films awards. Following were the jury members:
* Jury Members
** K. Bikram Singh (
Chairperson
The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
)Arvind Sinha
Apurba Sarma
Apurba Sarma (born January 1, 1943) is a National Award-winning film critic and a Sahitya Akademi winning author from Halem, Sonitpur district, Assam. He is one of the brothers of Arun Sarma who is also a Sahitya Academy Award winning author. He d ...
Biyot Projna TripathiSatheesh VenganoorIftikhar Ahmed
Golden Lotus Award
Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
Silver Lotus Award
Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)' and cash prize.
Best Writing on Cinema
The awards aim at encouraging study and appreciation of cinema as an art form and dissemination of information and critical appreciation of this art-form through publication of books, articles, reviews etc.
Juries
A committee headed by Madhu Jain was appointed to evaluate the writing on Indian cinema. Following were the jury members:
* Jury Members
** Madhu Jain (
Chairperson
The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
)Rashmi DoraiswamyVasiraju Prakasam
Golden Lotus Award
Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)' and cash prize.
Special Mention
All the award winners are awarded with Certificate of Merit.