72nd National Film Awards: Yami Gautam wins Best Actress; Kartik Aaryan and Mammootty share Best Actor honour

The winners of the 72nd National Film Awards have been announced, celebrating the finest achievements in Indian cinema across feature films, non-feature films and writing on cinema. The films that received their certification from CBFC between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024, are considered eligible. The 11-member jury is headed by filmmaker Jayaraj.

Complete winners list of 72nd National Film Awards

Recognising excellence across multiple languages and genres, the prestigious awards honour outstanding performances, direction, storytelling and technical craftsmanship, with several acclaimed films and artists emerging as the biggest winners of the year. Here's the complete list of winners.

Best film critic award: Sanjeev Shrivastava (Hindi)

Best book on cinema: Naaniruvude Nimagaagi Naadiruvude Nanagaagi: Kannada Cinemada Thathva Matthu Rajakeeya by Kenchanuru Pradeep Kumar Shetty, Publisher: Mirror Pusthaka

Special mention for two films: Chola Dora aur Sui (Hindi), directed by Jaymin Modi and Lokesh Ghai. Second film is Bhadra-Kali Natakam, helmed by Ananda Jyothi.

The Best Script award has been bagged by Obur (Clouds) in Hindi and Kashmiri. The writer of the film is Faraz Ali.

Best Narrator- Little Planet: A Tale of Frogs (English). The narrator of the film is Soundarya Jayachandran.

Best Direction Award: Parat 41°chya Magavar (On the Trail of 41°) in the Marathi language. The Music Director is Shivpal Singh Kang.

Best Editing Award: NDA (Hindi). Editor of film is Manvir Jasrotia.

Best Sound Design: Tamil film Blue. Sound Designer for film is TS Hari Hara Sudhan.

Best Cinematography: Life in Loom. Cinematographer of film is Edmond Ranson.

Best Direction Award: Anand L Rai. The director awarded for film is Statue of Unity: Ekta Ka Prateek (Hindi)

Best Short Film: Marathi film Hamsafar

Best Animation Film: Silent Film Touched as Water by Joshy Benedict

Best Non-Feature Film Promoting Social and Environmental: Piplantri – A Tale of Eco Feminism by filmmaker Suraj Kumar.

Best Arts/Culture: Atul Pandey's Hindi film

Best Biographical/Historical Reconstruction/Compilation- Kamlesh K Mishra's Kakori

Best Debut film of Director- Ravi Raj Murmu

Best Non-Feature Film: Marathi and English film Bhangaar (Obsolete)

Special Mention Award: Tamil film Meiyazhagan

Another Special Mention has been received by Dhanush's Captain Miller

Best Tulu Film: IMBU by filmmaker Shivdhwaj Studio

Best Garhwali Film: Filmmaker Dinesh P Bhonsle’s Dholi

Best Telugu Film: Filmmaker Yadhu Vamsee’s Committee Kurrollu

Best Tamil Film: Dhanush’s Raayan

Best Odia Film: Amartya Bhattacharyya’s Lahari

Best Marathi Film: Paresh Mokashi’s Mukkam Post Bombilwadi

Best Manipuri Film: Yumnam Ajit Singh’s Sunita

Best Malayalam Film: Fasil Muhammed’s Feminichi Fathima

Best Konkani Film: Mog Asum

Best Kannada film: Sumanth Bhat’s Mithya

Best Hindi Film: Rajkummar Rao starrer Srikanth

Best Gujarati Film: Abhishek Jain's Maaran

Best Bengali Film: Anjan Dutt's Chalchitra Ekhon

Best Assamese Film: Jadumoni Dutta's Juiphool

Best Action Direction – Tamil film Maharaja, starring Vijay Sethupathi in the lead role. The stunt choreographer for the film is Anl Arasu.

Best Choreography: Vijay Ganguly for Stree

Best Lyrics: Manoj Muntashir for the song Jaane Do from Ajay Devgn starrer Maidaan.

Best Music Direction: Tamil film Amaran. The Music director for the film is GV Prakash Kumar.

Best Music Director: Shashwat Sachdev for Hindi film Article 370

Best Make Up: Makeup artist P Ravi Kumar for the Telugu film Committee Kurrollu.

Best Costume Designer: Deepali Noor and Sheetal Sharma for the Telugu film Pushpa: The Rule (Part 2).

Best Production Designer: Nitin Zihani Choudhary for Nag Ashwin’s Kalki: 2898 AD

Best Editing: R Kalaivannan for Tamil film Amaran

Best Sound Design: Manas Choudhary for Kartik Aaryan’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3

Best Screenplay Dialogue: Venky Atluri for the film Lucky Bhaskhar

Best Screenplay (Adapted): Yogesh Deshpande for Marathi film Swargandharva Sudhi Phadke.

Best Cinematography: Shehnad Jalal for Malayalam film Bramayugam

Best Female Playback Singer: Vaikom Vijayalakshmi for ARM ( (Angu Vaana Konilu) in Malayalam language.

Best Playback Singer: Abhay Jodhpurkar for the Marathi film Gharat Ganpati

Best Child Artist (Shared): Child actors Riddhiman Banerjee, Tapomoy Deb and Gitashree Chakraborty for the film Onko Ki Kothin.

Best Actress in Kannada: Rapshree Varkady for Mithya

Best Supporting Actress in Tamil: Sachana Namidass for Maharaja

Best Supporting Actor: Sanjay Mishra for Bhakshak

Best Actress in Leading Role: Yami Gautam for Article 370

Best Actor in Leading Role: Kartik Aaryan for Chandu Champion and Mammootty for Bramayugam.

Best Direction: Rajkumar Periasamy for Amaran

Best Children's Film: Telugu film Chinna Katha Kaadu

Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social and Environmental Values- Dhanush starrer Captain Miller

Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Nag Ashwin directorial Kalki: 2898 AD

Best Debut Film of a Director: Randeep Hooda for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar

Best Feature Film: Aditya Suhas Jambhale’s Article 370

From powerful performances to groundbreaking films and remarkable technical achievements, this year's winners reflected the industry's evolving storytelling landscape. The awards continue to stand as one of India's highest cinematic honours, celebrating artistic excellence while acknowledging the rich cultural and linguistic diversity of the nation's film industry.