National Film Awards: Article 370 named Best Film, Rajkumar Periasamy wins Best Director, Pushpa 2 bags Best Screenplay

NEW DELHI: The 72nd National Film Awards, honouring the best Indian films certified in 2024, recognised several outstanding achievements across technical, music and regional film categories. While Mammootty (Bramayugam) and Kartik Aaryan (Chandu Champion) shared the Best Actor award and Yami Gautam won Best Actress for Article 370, several other films also emerged as major winners.

Article 370, directed by Aditya Suhas Jambhale, won the Best Feature Film award. Tamil filmmaker Rajkumar Periasamy received the Best Director honour for Amaran, adding another major recognition for the film.

The Best Screenplay award was shared by three winners. Sukumar won the Best Original Screenplay award for Pushpa: The Rule Part 2, Yogesh Deshpande received the Best Adapted Screenplay honour for Swargandharva Sudhir Phadke, and Venky Atluri was recognised for Best Dialogue for Lucky Baskhar. Malayalam cinematographer Shehnad Jalal won the Best Cinematography award for Bramayugam.

In the music categories, Shashwat Sachdev received the Best Music Direction award for Article 370. G.V. Prakash Kumar won the Best Background Score honour for Amaran, while Vaikom Vijayalakshmi was named Best Female Playback Singer for the song Angu Vaana Konilu from the Malayalam film ARM.

The Best Action Choreography award went to stunt masters Anbariv for their work in the Tamil action drama Maharaja.

The pan-India blockbuster Kalki 2898 AD won the award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. Tamil film Captain Miller received the honour for Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social and Environmental Values. The film also earned actor Dhanush a Special Mention for his performance.

Telugu feature film 35 - Chinna Katha Kaadu was named the Best Children's Film.

Malayalam film Feminichi Fathima won the Best Malayalam Film award, while Srikanth was named the Best Hindi Film and Raayan received the Best Tamil Film award.

In the Non-Feature Film category, Bhadrakali Nadakam, directed by Ananda Jyothi (Jose Antony), received a Special Mention. Touched as Water, directed by Malayali filmmaker Joshi Benedict, was named the Best Animation Film.

National Film Awards 2026: Complete list of major winners

• Best Feature Film - Article 370
• Best Debut Film of a Director - Randeep Hooda (Swatantrya Veer Savarkar)
• Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment - Kalki 2898 AD
• Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social and Environmental Values - Captain Miller
• Best Children's Film - 35 - Chinna Katha Kaadu
• Best Director - Rajkumar Periasamy (Amaran)
• Best Actor in a Leading Role - Mammootty (Bramayugam) and Kartik Aaryan (Chandu Champion)
• Best Actress in a Leading Role - Yami Gautam (Article 370)
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Sanjay Mishra (Bhakshak)
• Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Sachana Namidass (Maharaja) and Ropashree Varkady (Mithya)
• Best Child Artist - Athish S Shetty (Mithya), Arundev Pothula (35 - Chinna Katha Kaadu), Riddhiman Banerjee, Tapomoy Deb and Gitashree Chakraborty (Onko Ki Kothin)
• Best Male Playback Singer - Abhay Jodhpurkar (Gharat Ganpati)
• Best Female Playback Singer - Vaikom Vijayalakshmi (ARM)
• Best Cinematography - Shehnad Jalal (Bramayugam)
• Best Screenplay - Sukumar (Pushpa: The Rule Part 2), Yogesh Deshpande (Swargandharva Sudhir Phadke) and Venky Atluri (Lucky Baskhar)
• Best Sound Design - Manas Choudhury (Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3)
• Best Editing - R. Kalaivannan (Amaran)
• Best Production Design - Nitin Zihani Choudhary (Kalki 2898 AD)
• Best Costume Design - Deepali Noor and Sheetal Sharma (Pushpa: The Rule Part 2)
• Best Make-up - P. Ravi Kumar (Committee Kurrollu)
• Best Music Direction - Shashwat Sachdev (Article 370) and G.V. Prakash Kumar (Amaran)
• Best Lyrics - Manoj Muntashir (Maidaan)
• Best Choreography - Vijay Ganguly (Stree 2)
• Best Action Direction (Stunt Choreography) - Anbariv (Maharaja)