New Delhi: The 71st National Film Awards had their winners declared on 1st August 2025, marking the celebration of Indian Cinema for the year 2023. Films that were sanctioned by the Central Board of Film Certification from 1st January 2023 to 31st December 2023 were considered.This year ‘12th Fail’, featuring Vikrant Massey, won the Best Feature Film award. To top it all, the beloved actor, Shah Rukh Khan, received his first National Film Award. Alongside Vikrant Massey, the two stars won the shared award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for their performances in ‘Jawan’ and ’12th Fail’ respectively. Rani Mukerji was awarded Best Actress in a Leading Role for her compelling performance in ‘Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway’ which won her the title.The achievements were received in a multitude of categories and languages. Sudipto Sen received the Best Director award for ‘The Kerala Story’ and Karan Johar ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’ won the award for best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.The regional cinema was not forgotten as 'HanuMan' won the award for Best Feature Film in AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming & Comic), while Nandu and Prudhvi won Best Action Direction for the film. 'Parking' was awarded Best Tamil Film while 'Bhagavanth Kesari' won Best Telugu Film and 'Ullozhukku' claimed Best Malayalam Film. In other major feature film categories, MR Rajakrishnan won Special Mention for Re-Recording for ‘Animal’. ‘Dindhora Baje Re’ from ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’ brought Best Choreography to Vaibhavi Merchant, while Best Lyrics was awarded to Kasarla Shyam for ‘Ooru Palleturu’ in ‘Balagam’. Best Music Direction also went to Harshavardhan Rameshwar for ‘Animal’. Best Makeup went to Shrikanth Desai for ‘Sam Bahadur’, and Best Costume Design was given to Sachin, Divya, and Nidhhi for the same film. ‘2018’ won Best Production Design and Midhun Murali for Best Editing in ‘Pookkaalam’.In the realm of sound and screenwriting, the award for Best Sound Design went to Sachin Sudhakaran and Hariharan for ‘Animal.’ Best Screenplay went to Sai Rajesh for ‘Baby’ and Ramkumar Balakrishnan for ‘Parking.’ Deepak Kingrani received the Best Dialogue award for ‘Sirf Ek Bandha Kaafi Hai.’ Best Cinematography awarded went to Prasanthanu Mohapatra for ‘The Kerala Story.’ Best Playback Singer (Female) was awarded to Shilpa Rao for her song “Chaliya” in ‘Jawan,’ and PVN S Rohit for “Premisthunna” in ‘Baby.’ Sukriti Bandireddi was awarded for ‘Gandhi Thatha Chettu’ and Kabir Khandare for ‘Gypsy.’ Treesha Toshar, Shrinivas Pokale, and Bhargav gave group performances in ‘Naal 2.’ The Best Actor in Supporting Role were given to Urvashi for ‘Ullozhukku’ and Janki Bodiwala for ‘Vash,’ and Vijayaraghavan for ‘Pookalam’ and Muthupettai Somu Bhaskar for ‘Parking.’ In non-feature films, there were key winners such as Best Non-Feature Film winner ‘Flowering Man,’ and ‘God Vulture and Human’ was declared Best Documentary Film. Best Short Film was awarded to ‘Giddh The Scavenger.’
Around the web
