The National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer is an honour presented annually at the

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 ...

of India since 1968 to a female

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not ap ...

for the best renditions of songs from soundtracks within the Indian film industry. Throughout the years, accounting for ties and repeat winners, the

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

has presented 46 Best Female Playback Singer awards to 24 female playback singers. Until 1974, winners of the National Film Award received a

commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

and certificate; since 1975, they have been awarded with a "Rajat Kamal" (silver lotus), certificate and a cash prize that amounted to in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

. The first recipient was

P. Susheela Pulapaka Susheela (born 13 November 1935), popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer associated with the South Indian cinema primarily from Andhra Pradesh for over six decades. She is one of the greatest and best-known playba ...

, who was honoured at the 16th National Film Award (1968) for her renditions from the Tamil film ''

Uyarntha Manithan ''Uyarndha Manithan'' () is a 1968 Indian Tamil-language drama film written by Javar Seetharaman and directed by Krishnan–Panju. The film was produced by A. V. Meiyappan, M. Saravanan, M. Kumaran and M. Murugan under AVM Productions. It star ...

''. The singer who won the most Rajat Kamal awards is K S Chithra with six wins, followed by

with five. As of 2013, two singers—

S. Janaki Sistla Janaki (born 23 April 1938) is an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer from Andhra Pradesh. She is referred to respectfully as "Janaki Amma" and Nightingale of South India. She is one of the best-known playback singers in ...

and

Shreya Ghoshal Shreya Ghoshal (born 12 March 1984) is an Indian singer and television personality. One of the highest-paid and most well-established playback singers of Indian cinema, she has received four National Film Awards, four Kerala State Film Awards ...

—have won the award four times, and two—

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 con ...

and

Vani Jairam Vani Jairam (born as Kalaivani on 30 November 1945), also credited as Vani Jayaram, is an Indian singer. She is best known as a playback singer in South Indian cinema. Vani's career started in 1971 and has spanned over five decades. She has d ...

—have won it thrice. The award has been won twice by

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in th ...

Alka Yagnik Alka, AlkA or ALKA may refer to: People * Alka Ajith (born c. 1997), Indian multilingual playback singer * Alka Amin (active from 2011), Indian television actress * Alka Balram Kshatriya, Indian politician, Member of the Parliament of India repr ...

and Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar.

, K. S. Chithra, and

have won the award for their renditions in three languages. Shreya Ghoshal is the sole recipient of the award for two songs in the same year in two languages. Uthara Unnikrishnan is the youngest winner, picking up the award at the age of 10 for the rendition of a song from the Tamil film '' Saivam'' (2014). No award was given for this category in 1973.

Multiple winners

Recipients

List of award recipients, showing the year (award ceremony), song(s), film(s), language(s) and citation.

References

External links

Official Page for Directorate of Film Festivals, India

National Film Awards Archives
{{National Film Awards Female Playback Singer Indian music awards Film music awards Music awards honoring women

Multiple winners

Recipients

See also

References

External links