The 16th

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 Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of

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 1968. 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 New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

on 13 February 1970. With 16th National Film Awards, three new awards were introduced, mainly for Best Film on Family Welfare, Best Child Artist and Best Film Lyric Writer. Moreover, for male and female singers, awards were differentiated with Best Male Playback Singer and Best Female Playback Singer respectively.

Juries

Six different committees were formed based on the film making sectors in India, mainly based in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras along with the award categories. Another committee for all India level was also formed which included some of the members from regional committee. For 16th National Film Awards, central committee was headed by Justice G. D. Khosla. * Jury Members: Central ** G. D. Khosla (

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 ...

)

Sitaram Kesri Sitaram Kesri (15 November 1919 – 24 October 2000) was an Indian politician and parliamentarian. He became a union minister and served as President of the Indian National Congress from 1996 to 1998. __TOC__ Political career Pre-Independen ...

Sheila Bhatia Sheila Bhatia (1916-2008) was an Indian poet, playwright, theatre personality and the founder of the ''Delhi Art Theatre'', a forum based in Delhi for the promotion of Indian art forms. She is credited with originating Punjabi opera, an Indian fo ...

A. C. Jalan

Ezra Mir Ezra Mir (26 October 1903 – 7 March 1993) ( fl. 1924–1993) was an Indian film-maker, known for his documentary films. Mir changed his Jewish birth name, Edwyn Meyers, to Ezra Mir because he felt his original name "lacked Indianness". After ...

B. K. Karanjia

Teji Bachchan Teji Harivansh Rai Srivastava Bachchan (''née'' Tejwant Kaur Suri; 12 August 1914 21 December 2007) was an Indian social activist, the wife of Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and mother of Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan. Biography Tej ...

I. S. Johar Inder Sen Johar(16 February 1920 – 10 March 1984), better known as I. S. Johar, was an Indian actor, writer, producer and director, who excelled in comedic roles. Early life Inderjeet Singh Johar was born on 16th February, 1920 in Talagang ...

Haridas Bhattacharjee U. Visweswar RaoSunder Lal Nahata

M. N. Kapur Mahendra Nath Kapur (December 1910 - March 1994) was an Indian educator. He served as Principal of Modern School, New Delhi, for thirty years. For his contribution to the field of education, he received the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civil ...

* Jury Members: Documentary ** D. K. Borooah (

) Shambu Mitra

Mrinalini Sarabhai Mrinalini Vikram Sarabhai (11 May 1918 – 21 January 2016) was an Indian classical dancer, choreographer and instructor. She was the founder and director of the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, an institute for imparting training in dance, ...

G. G. Swell

Shanta Gandhi Shanta Kalidas Gandhi (20 December 1917 – 6 May 2002) was an Indian theatre director, dancer and playwright who was closely associated with IPTA, the cultural wing of the Communist Party of India. She studied with Indira Gandhi at a residenti ...

* Jury Members: Short Films **

Piloo Mody Piloo Mody (14 November 1926 – 29 January 1983) was an Indian architect and politician and one of the founding members of the Swatantra Party. Elected to the 4th and 5th Lok Sabhas, he served in the Rajya Sabha from 1978 until his death. P ...

(

)

Balwant Gargi Balwant Gargi (4 December 1916 – 22 April 2003) was an Indian Punjabi language dramatist, theatre director, novelist, and short story writer, and academic. Early life On 4 December 1916, in Canal House in Sehna, Barnala (Punjab), Balwant Gar ...

Amita Malik Amita Malik ( bn, অমিতা মালিক; hi, अमिता मलिक; 1921 – 20 February 2009) was an Indian media critic. She was described by ''Time'' magazine as India's "most prominent film and television critic", dubbed ...

R. G. AnandInder Lal Das * Jury Regional: Bombay **

Nissim Ezekiel Nissim Ezekiel (16 December 1924 – 9 January 2004) was an Indian Jewish poet, actor, playwright, editor and art critic. He was a foundational figure in postcolonial India's literary history, specifically for Indian Poetry in English. He ...

(

)Urmila KapurNavin KhandwallaR. S. PandeFiroze RangoonwallaBikram SinghBal ChhabdaShatrujit PaulBuny TalwarG. P. Shirke * Jury Regional: Calcutta **

Amala Shankar Amala Shankar (''née'' Nandy, 27 June 1919 – 24 July 2020) was an Indian danseuse. She was the wife of dancer and choreographer Uday Shankar and mother of musician Ananda Shankar and dancer Mamata Shankar (later she became an actress) and ...

(

)Roma Choudhry

Chintamoni Kar Chintamoni Kar (19 April 1915 – 3 October 2005) was a renowned Indian sculptor. He received civilian awards from the Indian and French governments and won an Olympic silver medal on behalf of Great Britain. Personal life and studies Born ...

K. C. PanigrahiA. K. Pramanick

Utpal Dutta Utpal Dutta () (29 March 1929 – 19 August 1993) was an Indian actor, director, and writer-playwright. He was primarily an actor in Bengali theatre, where he became a pioneering figure in Modern Indian theatre, when he founded the "Little The ...

Kanan Devi Kanan Devi (22 April 1916 – 17 July 1992) was an Indian actress and singer. She was among the early singing stars of Indian cinema, and is credited popularly as the first star of Bengali cinema. Her singing style, usually in rapid tempo, was ...

Kartic ChatterjeeDurgadas Mitra * Jury Regional: Madras ** C. R. Pattabhiraman (

)P. Achutha Menon

R. K. Narayan Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami (10 October 1906 – 13 May 2001) was an Indian writer known for his work set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. He was a leading author of early Indian literature in English along with Mul ...

Mallikarjuna Rao

Sarojini Varadappan Sarojini Varadappan (21 September 1921 − 17 October 2013) was an Indian social worker from the state of Tamil Nadu. She was the daughter of former Chief Minister of Madras, M. Bhaktavatsalam. Early life Sarojini was born in Madras on 21 S ...

K. ManoharanRajammal AnantharamanV. C. Subburaman D. V. S. RajuB. Ananthaswami

Awards

Awards were divided into feature films and non-feature films. President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film is now better known as

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 President's Gold Medal for the Best Documentary Film is analogous to today's

National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film The National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organization set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awar ...

. For children's films, Prime Minister's Gold Medal is now given as

National Film Award for Best Children's Film The National Film Award for Best Children's Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awards ...

. At the regional level, President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film is now given as National Film Award for Best Feature Film in a particular language. Certificate of Merit in all the categories is discontinued over the years.

Feature films

Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For 16th National Film Awards, a Bengali film ''

Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne ''Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne'' (Bengali: গুপী গাইন বাঘা বাইন ''Gupi Gain Bagha Bain'') is a 1969 Indian fantasy adventure comedy film written and directed by Satyajit Ray and based on a story by his grandfather Upend ...

'' won the President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film, with also winning the maximum number of awards (two); along with two

Hindi films 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 ...

, '' Aashirwad'' and '' Saraswatichandra'' with 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, ...

, ''

Thulabharam ''Thulabharam'' () is a 1968 Indian Malayalam-language film, directed by A. Vincent. It is based on the Kerala People's Arts Club play of the same name, written by Thoppil Bhasi. Thoppil Bhasi also adapted the play for the screen. The film had ...

'' and a

Tamil film Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood' ...

, ''

Thillaanaa Mohanambal ''Thillana Mohanambal'' () is a 1968 Indian Tamil-language musical drama film written, directed and produced by A. P. Nagarajan. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Padmini and T. S. Balaiah, with A. V. M. Rajan, Nagesh and Manorama in supporting ...

''. Following were the awards given in each category:

All India Award

Following were the awards given:

Regional Award

The awards were given to the best films made in the regional languages of India. For feature films in Assamese,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to: * People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir * Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley * Kashmiri language, their language People with the name * Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...

and

Punjabi language Punjabi (; ; , ), sometimes spelled Panjabi, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It has approximately 113 million native speakers. Punjabi is the most widely-spoken first language in Pakistan, with 80.5 m ...

, President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film was not given. The producer and director of the film were awarded with 5,000 and a Silver medal, respectively.

Non-Feature films

Following were the awards given:

Short films

Awards not given

Following were the awards not given as no film was found to be suitable for the award: * Best Story Writer * Best Promotional Film * President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Assamese * President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in English * President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Punjabi

References

External links

National Film Awards Archives

Official Page for Directorate of Film Festivals, India
{{National Film Awards National Film Awards (India) ceremonies 1970 film awards 1970 in Indian cinema