59th National Film Awards
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The 59th National Film Awards, presented by the
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 ...
, honoured 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 ...
for 2011 and took place on 3 May 2012 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. Awards were presented in 38 categories in the Feature Films section, 20 categories in the Non-Feature Films section and two categories for the Best Writing on Cinema section; 41 jury members chose the winners from 392 entries. The ceremony was hosted by actors
Vinay Pathak Vinay Pathak (born 12 July 1968) is an Indian theater and film actor. He has starred in many films including ''Khosla Ka Ghosla,'' '' Bheja Fry,'' ''Island City'' and ''Johnny Gaddaar'' and had a supporting role in movies like ''Jism'', ''Rab ...
and
Saumya Tandon Saumya Tandon (born 3 November 1984) is an Indian actress and television presenter, best known for her portrayal of Anita Mishra in the Hindi sitcom television series '' Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain!''. She has been a host on various TV shows like ''D ...
. Awards were presented by the Vice-President of India,
Mohammad Hamid Ansari Mohammad Hamid Ansari (; born 1 April 1937) is an Indian politician and retired Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer who was the 12th vice president of India from 2007 to 2017. Ansari joined the IFS in 1961. In a diplomatic career spanning 3 ...
. The ceremony was broadcast live on three television channels, eleven
All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...
stations, and webcast live. ''
Deool ''Deool'' () is a 2011 Indian Marathi dark comedy directed by Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni and produced by Abhijeet Gholap. The film stars Girish Kulkarni, Nana Patekar, Dilip Prabhawalkar, Sharvani Pillai, Sonali Kulkarni in lead roles. The film ...
'', a
Marathi film Marathi cinema is an Indian film industry of Marathi-language motion pictures. It is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Based in old Mumbai, it is the oldest film industry of Indian cinema. The first Marathi film to be released in India was ''Shre ...
, and ''
Byari The Beary (also known as Byari) is a community concentrated along the southwest coast of India, mostly in the Mangalore district of the south Indian state of Karnataka. They are an ethnic group of Indian Muslims with their own distinct cu ...
'', the first and only
Beary The Beary (also known as Byari) is a community concentrated along the southwest coast of India, mostly in the Mangalore district of the south Indian state of Karnataka. They are an ethnic group of Indian Muslims with their own distinct cu ...
film, shared the award for the
Best Feature Film Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...
. The award for the Best Non-Feature Film was given to the
Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
‐English documentary ''And We Play On''. The book, ''R. D. Burman: The Man, The Music'', co-authored by Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Balaji Vittal, won the Best Book on Cinema; Assamese film critic Manoj Barpujari was declared the Best Film Critic.
Gurvinder Singh Gurvinder Singh is an Indian film director. He is best known for his Punjabi language films ''Anhe Ghore Da Daan'', and Chauthi Koot ( The Fourth Direction) which premiered at Venice and Cannes Film Festival respectively. Gurvinder is an alumn ...
won the best feature film direction award for his directorial debut, ''
Anhe Ghore Da Daan ''Anhe Ghore Da Daan'' ( eng, Alms for a Blind Horse) is a 2011 Indian Punjabi-language film directed by Gurvinder Singh. It is based on the 1976 novel of the same name by Gurdial Singh. It portrays the plight and problems of farmers in Punjab, ...
''. For the film ''Deool'',
Girish Kulkarni Girish Pandurang Kulkarni (born 25 November 1977) is an Indian actor, writer, and producer. He is a recipient of two National Film Awards namely, National Film Award for Best Actor in 2011 for his performance in ''Deool'' and National Film Award ...
won the awards for Best Actor and Best Dialogue;
Bollywood 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 ...
actress
Vidya Balan Vidya Balan (pronounced ; born 1 January 1979) is an Indian actress. Known for pioneering a change in the portrayal of women in Hindi cinema with her roles in female-led films, she is the recipient of several awards, including a National Fi ...
won the
Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...
award for ''
The Dirty Picture ''The Dirty Picture'' is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language biographical musical drama film inspired by the life of Silk Smitha, an Indian actress noted for her erotic roles. The filmmakers have clarified that the story is not officially or literall ...
''. The
Dadasaheb Phalke Award The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest award in the field of cinema. It is presented annually at the National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals, an organisation set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadca ...
, regarded as the most prestigious recognition in Indian cinema, was given to the veteran Bengali actor
Soumitra Chatterjee Soumitra Chatterjee (also spelt as Chattopadhyay; 16 June 193515 November 2020) was an Indian film actor, play-director, playwright, writer, thespian and poet. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of ...
for his contribution to Bengali cinema.


Selection process

The Directorate of Film Festivals invited nominations for the 2012 award ceremony on 26 December 2011. Feature and Non-Feature Films certified by
Central Board of Film Certification The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...
between 1 January 2011, and 31 December 2011, were eligible for the film award categories. The written material on Indian cinema published in Indian print media during the same period were eligible for the best writing on cinema section. The dubbed, revised or copied versions of a film or translation, abridgements, edited or annotated works and reprints were ineligible for the awards. The deadline for submissions was 17 January 2012. The Feature Film category received 186 entries in 19 languages, marking the highest number of submissions in the history of the National Film Awards, as of 2011. A total of 156 entries were received in the Non-Feature Films category along with 28 books and 22 articles which were submitted for the Best Writing in Cinema.


Awards

The National Film Awards are grouped into three sections: Feature Films, Non-Feature Films and Writing on Cinema. On 7 March 2012, in a press conference held at Shastri Bhavan, New Delhi, the winners for the 2012 award ceremony were announced. A lifetime achievement award, named after
Dadasaheb Phalke Dhundiraj Govind Phalke (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, ̪ʱuɳɖiɾaːd͡ʒ pʰaːɭke, popularly known as Dadasaheb Phalke () (30 April 1870 – 16 February 1944), was an Indian producer-director-screenwriter, known as "the Father of In ...
, was awarded to a film personality for an outstanding contribution to the Indian Cinema. The winners were awarded a medallion, a cash prize and a certificate of merit.


Dadasaheb Phalke Award

Introduced in 1969, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award is the highest award given to recognise the contributions of film personalities towards the development of Indian cinema and for distinguished contributions to the medium, its growth and promotion. A committee consisting of five personalities from the Indian film industry was appointed to evaluate the Dadasaheb Phalke award nominations for 2011. Following were the jury members: The Dadasaheb Phalke award for 2011 was announced on 23 March 2012. Actor
Soumitra Chatterjee Soumitra Chatterjee (also spelt as Chattopadhyay; 16 June 193515 November 2020) was an Indian film actor, play-director, playwright, writer, thespian and poet. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of ...
won the award for his contribution to Indian cinema, predominantly in Bengali cinema. * Chatterjee was a regular in
Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of fil ...
films, has worked with other notable directors such as
Mrinal Sen Mrinal Sen (''Beng.'' মৃণাল সেন; 14 May 1923 – 30 December 2018) was an Indian film director, and screenwriter known for his work primarily in Bengali, and few Hindi and Telugu language films. Regarded as one of the finest Ind ...
and
Tapan Sinha Tapan Sinha (2 October 1924 – 15 January 2009) was one of the most prominent Indian film directors of his time forming a legendary quartet with Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen. He was primarily a Bengali filmmaker who worked both ...
in a career lasting over 50 years.


Feature Films

Feature films were awarded at national and regional levels. A
Marathi film Marathi cinema is an Indian film industry of Marathi-language motion pictures. It is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Based in old Mumbai, it is the oldest film industry of Indian cinema. The first Marathi film to be released in India was ''Shre ...
, ''
Deool ''Deool'' () is a 2011 Indian Marathi dark comedy directed by Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni and produced by Abhijeet Gholap. The film stars Girish Kulkarni, Nana Patekar, Dilip Prabhawalkar, Sharvani Pillai, Sonali Kulkarni in lead roles. The film ...
'' and a
Beary The Beary (also known as Byari) is a community concentrated along the southwest coast of India, mostly in the Mangalore district of the south Indian state of Karnataka. They are an ethnic group of Indian Muslims with their own distinct cu ...
film, ''
Byari The Beary (also known as Byari) is a community concentrated along the southwest coast of India, mostly in the Mangalore district of the south Indian state of Karnataka. They are an ethnic group of Indian Muslims with their own distinct cu ...
'', shared 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 ...
. ''Deool'' became the third Marathi film to win the honour after ''
Shyamchi Aai Shyamchi Aai ( mr, श्यामची आई; en, Shyam's Mother) is an autobiography of social activist Pandurang Sadashiv Sane (known as ''Sane Guruji''). Its regarded as one of the greatest tributes to mother's love in Marathi literature. ...
'' (1953) and ''
Shwaas ''Shwas'' (Marathi: श्वास, ''The Breath'') is a Marathi film, released in 2004. It was India's official entry to the 2004 Oscars and was ranked 6th in the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film category. Its storyline is based o ...
'' (2003). The film's author and lead actor,
Girish Kulkarni Girish Pandurang Kulkarni (born 25 November 1977) is an Indian actor, writer, and producer. He is a recipient of two National Film Awards namely, National Film Award for Best Actor in 2011 for his performance in ''Deool'' and National Film Award ...
, won the awards for Best Actor and Best Dialogues. ''Byari'' is the first feature film ever made in the Beary language. In this section, 24 films won awards, and six films, including ''Deool'', the
Punjabi film Punjabi cinema, sometimes metonymously referred to as Pollywood or Punjwood is the Punjabi-language film industry centered around the Indian state of Punjab, and based in Amritsar and Mohali. The cinema of Punjab has its beginnings with the ...
''
Anhe Ghore Da Daan ''Anhe Ghore Da Daan'' ( eng, Alms for a Blind Horse) is a 2011 Indian Punjabi-language film directed by Gurvinder Singh. It is based on the 1976 novel of the same name by Gurdial Singh. It portrays the plight and problems of farmers in Punjab, ...
'', another Marathi film ''
Balgandharva Narayan Shripad Rajhans, popularly known as Bal Gandharva, (26 June 1888 – 15 July 1967) was a famous Marathi language, Marathi singer and a stage actor. He was known for his roles in female characters in Marathi plays, since women were not ...
'', a Bengali film ''
Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona ''Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona'' ( bn, রঞ্জনা আমি আর আসবনা, en, Ranjana, I will not come back again) is a 2011 Bengali language Indian rock musical drama film directed by Anjan Dutt. It won three national film awards ...
'' and 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 ...
'' Chillar Party'' and ''
The Dirty Picture ''The Dirty Picture'' is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language biographical musical drama film inspired by the life of Silk Smitha, an Indian actress noted for her erotic roles. The filmmakers have clarified that the story is not officially or literall ...
'', won three awards each.


Jury

For the Feature Film section, six committees were formed based on the different geographic regions in India. The two-tier evaluation process included a central committee and five regional committees. The central committee, headed by the actor
Rohini Hattangadi Rohini Hattangadi (''née'' Oak; born 11 April 1955) is an Indian actress, known for her work in Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, and Gujarati films, and Marathi soap operas and theatre. She has won two Filmfare Awards, one National Film ...
, included the heads of each regional committee and five other jury members. At regional level, each committee consisted of one chief and four members. The chief and one non-chief member of each regional committee were selected from outside that geographic region. The table below names the jury members for the central and regional committees: Central Jury Northern Region: Eastern Region: Western Region: Southern Region I: Southern Region II:


All India Awards

At national level, feature films competed in 29 categories. The ''Swarna Kamal'' (Golden Lotus Award) was awarded in five categories, the ''Rajat Kamal'' (Silver Lotus Award) in the rest. In this edition, the Golden Lotus Award for the Best Animation Film and eight Silver Lotus Awards were not announced. The awards given were as follows: * *


Golden Lotus Award

All the winners were awarded with a ''Swarna Kamal'' (Golden Lotus Award), a certificate and a cash prize.


Silver Lotus Award

All the winners were awarded with a ''Rajat Kamal'' (Silver Lotus Award), a certificate and a cash prize.


Regional Awards

National Film Awards are also given to the best films in the regional languages of India. Awards for the regional languages are categorised as per their mention in the Eighth schedule of the
Constitution of India The Constitution of India (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ri ...
. Awardees included producers and directors of the film. No films in languages other than those specified in the Schedule VIII of the Constitution were eligible. All the winners were awarded with ''Rajat Kamal'' (Silver Lotus Award), a certificate and cash prize. Following were the awards given:


Non-Feature Films

In the Non-Feature Film section, 21 films won awards. Three films—''Panchakki'', ''There is Something in the Air'' and ''Tiger Dynasty''—won three awards each. ''There is Something in the Air'' also won the award for best direction—one of the Golden Lotus awards for Non-Feature Films. Three Silver Lotus Awards from Non-Feature Films section were not awarded.


Jury

A committee of seven, headed by director
Romesh Sharma Romesh Brij Sharma is an Indian film producer, actor and director. Under his banner Romesh Films, he has been actively involved in the production of films and television shows for over 30 years. Personal life His son Karan Sharma is also an a ...
, was appointed to evaluate the Non-Feature Films entries. The jury members were:


Golden Lotus Award

All the winners were awarded with ''Swarna Kamal'' (Golden Lotus Award), a certificate and cash prize.


Silver Lotus Award

All the winners were awarded with ''Rajat Kamal'' (Silver Lotus Award) and cash prize.


Best Writing on Cinema

The Best Writing on Cinema awards are intended to encourage the study and appreciation of cinema as an art form and the dissemination of information and critical appreciation of the medium through books, articles, reviews etc.


Jury

A committee of three, headed by the National Award-winning writer Vijaya Mulay was appointed to evaluate the nominations for the best writing on Indian cinema. The jury members were as follows:


Golden Lotus Award

Official Name: ''Swarna Kamal'' All the winners were awarded with ''Swarna Kamal'' (Golden Lotus Award), cash prize and a certificate.


Awards not given

Across all the sections, 12 out of 60 awards were not presented. Some were not awarded because no entries were submitted and for others, no suitable films were found. All the awards for the Best Writing on Cinema section were awarded. The following awards from the other two sections were not given: ;Feature films *
Best Animated Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
* Best Film on Environment Conservation / Preservation * Best Film on Family Welfare * Best Film on National Integration * Best Film on Other Social Issues * Best Feature Film in Assamese * Best Feature Film in English * Best Feature Film in Oriya * Best Feature Film in Telugu ;Non-Feature Films * Best Animation Film * Best Agricultural Film * Best Scientific Film


Award ceremony

The awards presentation ceremony took place on 3 May 2012, 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. The ceremony was presided over by the Vice-President of India,
Mohammad Hamid Ansari Mohammad Hamid Ansari (; born 1 April 1937) is an Indian politician and retired Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer who was the 12th vice president of India from 2007 to 2017. Ansari joined the IFS in 1961. In a diplomatic career spanning 3 ...
. Other dignitaries present were
Ambika Soni Ambika Soni (born 13 November 1942) is an Indian politician belonging to Indian National Congress. She had served as Minister of Information and Broadcasting. She was a Member of Parliament representing the state of Punjab in the Rajya Sabha. ...
(
Minister of Information and Broadcasting Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (Ministry of I&B) is a ministerial level agency of the Government of India responsible for the formulation and administration of rules, regulations and laws in the areas of information, broadcasting, the ...
), Vinod Lamba (President of
Film Federation of India The Film Federation of India (FFI) is an apex body of the Indian film producers (around 18,000), distributors (around 20,000), exhibitors (around 12,000) and studio owners, headquartered in Mumbai.Shahid Alikhan, R. A. Mashelkar, "Intellectual pro ...
), Dharmesh Tiwari (President of
Federation of Western India Cine Employees Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) is a film industry worker's union in Mumbai, India. As of 2020 it had 500,000 members. FWICE is mother body of all Indian Cinema Association. Affiliations FWICE is a member of UNI APRO, itse ...
), and two Ministers of State for Information and Broadcasting, C. M. Jatua and R. Jagathrakshkan. The chairpersons of the jury for the three awards sections were also present. The show was hosted by Hindi film actor
Vinay Pathak Vinay Pathak (born 12 July 1968) is an Indian theater and film actor. He has starred in many films including ''Khosla Ka Ghosla,'' '' Bheja Fry,'' ''Island City'' and ''Johnny Gaddaar'' and had a supporting role in movies like ''Jism'', ''Rab ...
and Hindi television actress,
Saumya Tandon Saumya Tandon (born 3 November 1984) is an Indian actress and television presenter, best known for her portrayal of Anita Mishra in the Hindi sitcom television series '' Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain!''. She has been a host on various TV shows like ''D ...
. It was broadcast live on the television channels Doordarshan 1,
DD India DD India is an international state-owned English language news and current affairs channel from India. The service is also aimed at the overseas market, similar to WION, CNN International, BBC World News, DW, TV5Monde, VOA, NHK World, Arirang ...
and
DD News DD News is an Indian news channel of Doordarshan, it is India's only 24-hour terrestrial TV news channel broadcasting solely in Hindi, and formerly in English. The Prasar Bharati Board approved the proposal to start a 24-hour news channel in p ...
; on eleven
All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...
stations; and on the official websites of the Directorate of Film Festivals and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. * The public screenings of the award-winning films were scheduled from 1 June 2012, to 10 June 2012, at the
Siri Fort Auditorium Siri Fort Auditorium is premier multi-auditorium complex of Government of India. Situated in the Siri Fort in New Delhi, it is also the headquarters of the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which a ...
II, New Delhi. To mark the centenary of Indian cinema, the ceremony started with clips of the first full-length Indian feature film, ''
Raja Harishchandra ''Raja Harishchandra'' () is a 1913 Indian silent film directed and produced by Dadasaheb Phalke. It is often considered the first full-length Indian feature film. ''Raja Harishchandra'' features Dattatraya Damodar Dabke, Anna Salunke, Bhalc ...
'' (1913). Directed by Dadasaheb Phalke, this silent film was released on 3 May 1913 at
Coronation Cinema Coronation Cinematograph and Variety Hall was a hall in the Girgaon area of south Mumbai, India used for variety entertainment shows, dramas and to screen movies. The first full-length Indian feature film, '' Raja Harischandra'', was screened her ...
, Mumbai. To honour this historic event, Soni announced that 2013 would be observed as the centenary year of Indian Cinema and that the National Film Awards ceremony would be held on 3 May every year. She also announced that a National Heritage Mission would be set up to digitise and restore all audio and video tapes of Indian films. A Museum of Indian Cinema would also be inaugurated at the Gulshan Mahal, Mumbai, before May 2013. * * Rajiv Mehrotra of the Public Service Broadcasting Trust won his twentieth National Film Award. The acclaimed Kannada director
Girish Kasaravalli Girish Kasaravalli (born 3 December 1950) is an Indian film director, in the Kannada cinema, and one of the pioneers of the Parallel Cinema. Known internationally for his works, Kasaravalli has garnered fourteen National Film Awards, including f ...
received his 13th National Film Award when his film ''
Koormavatara ''Koormavatara'' ( kan, ಕೂರ್ಮಾವತಾರ) is a 2011 Indian Kannada drama film directed by Girish Kasaravalli, based on short story of the same name written by Kum. Veerabhadrappa. It stars Shikaripura Krishnamurthy, Jayanthi and Ap ...
'' won the Best Feature Film in Kannada award. The dress designer Neeta Lulla won her fourth award for the costumes in ''Balgandharva''. Also, eleven child artists were given Best Child Artist Awards for their performances. Three award-winners—
Anand Bhate Anand Bhate (born 29 April 1971) is an Indian classical vocalist from the Kirana gharana. He is popular for his classical singing of songs from the Marathi film ''Balgandharva'' (2011). Early life and training Anand was born in Pune, India in 1 ...
,
Roopa Ganguly Roopa Ganguly is an Indian actress, playback singer and politician. She is best known for her portrayal of Draupadi in B R Chopra's hit television series ''Mahabharat''. Often promoted as the Tollywood's answer to Bollywood's Shabana Azmi, she ...
and
Amitabh Bhattacharya Amitabh Bhattacharya (born 16 November 1976) is an Indian lyricist and playback singer who works in Bollywood films. He shot to fame with the film ''Dev.D'' with the song "Emotional Atyachar" turning an instant hit. He sang this song under the ...
, who won the award for Best Male Playback Singer, Best Female Playback Singer and
Best Lyrics Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...
respectively—performed live during the ceremony. Both the singers performed their award-winning songs—Bhate sang " Chinmaya Sakal Hridaya" from the Marathi film ''Balgandharva'' and Ganguly performed "Dure Kothao Dure Dure" from her film ''
Abosheshey ''Abosheshey'' (''At the End of it All'') is a 2011 Indian film in Bengali starring Roopa Ganguly, Raima Sen and Ankur Khanna in lead roles. The film is the directorial debut of Aditi Roy. The film was screened at various international film fest ...
''. Bhattacharya was accompanied by singer-songwriter
Amit Trivedi Amit Trivedi (born 8 April 1979) is an Indian music director, singer and a lyricist who works primarily in Hindi films. After working as a theatre and jingle composer and composing for non-film albums, he debuted as a film composer in the 2008 ...
for the song "Agar Zindagi" from ''
I Am I Am or I'm may refer to: Language and literature * "I Am that I Am", a common English translation of the response God used in the Hebrew Bible when Moses asked for His name ** I am (biblical term), a Christian term used in the Bible * "I Am" (po ...
''.


Controversy

After the awards were announced on 7 March 2012, ''Enajori.com'', a society which promotes cultural heritage of
Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
, filed a petition against the jury's decision for not considering ''
Ekhon Nedekha Nodir Xhipare ''Ekhon Nedekha Nodir Xhipare'' (, ) is a 2012 Assamese language socio- political thriller film, with some dialogue in Hindi, starring Sanjay Suri and Bidita Bag in the lead roles. It was directed by Bidyut Kotoky and produced by National Fil ...
'' as an
Assamese film Assamese cinema, also known as Jollywood, is an Indian film industry of Assamese-language motion pictures. It is based in Assam, India. The industry was born in 1935 when Jyoti Prasad Agarwala released his movie '' Joymoti''. Since then the A ...
and rejecting its nomination. In response to the plea the
Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi (IAST: ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966'', with four judges, Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. ...
issued a notice to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Directorate of Film Festivals, the Central Board of Film Certification, Rohini Hattangadi—chairperson of Feature Film section, and Hiren Bora—a jury member for the Feature Film section. After examining the documents submitted for the selection of regional films, the High Court dismissed the plea. The proceedings revealed that ''Ekhon Nedekha Nodir Xhipare'', and other films from the eastern region, were previewed and rejected by the jury. The court imposed costs of on the petitioner for moving to the court without ascertaining the facts of the case.


References

;Award ceremony


External links

;Official websites
Official Page for Directorate of Film Festivals, India

59th National Film Award 2012 Ad Campaign





National Film Awards Archives

59th National Film Awards: Regulations for submission



59th National Film Awards: Official Catalogue

Directorate of Film Festivals' Channel
at YouTube (run by the
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 ...
) ;Other resources
59th National Film Awards announcement (Video)

National Film Awards
at
IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
{{National Film Awards National Film Awards (India) ceremonies 2012 Indian film awards