66th National Film Awards
The 66th National Film Awards ceremony was the award ceremony which took place in 2019 to honour the best films of 2018, in the Indian cinema. The declaration of awards was delayed due to 2019 Indian general election.[1][2]
| 66th National Film Awards | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best of Indian cinema in 2018 |
| Awarded by | Directorate of Film Festivals |
| Presented by | M. Venkaiah Naidu (Vice President of India) |
| Announced on | 9 August 2019 |
| Presented on | 23 December 2019 |
| Hosted by | Divya Dutta Sonali Kulkarni |
| Official website | dff.gov.in |
| Highlights | |
| Best Feature Film | Hellaro |
| Best Non-Feature Film | • Son Rise • The Secret Life Of Frogs |
| Best Book | Mouna Prarthana Pole |
| Best Film Critic | • Blais Johnny • Anant Vijay |
| Dadasaheb Phalke Award | Amitabh Bachchan |
| Most awards | Nathicharami (5) |
Selection process
The Directorate of Film Festivals invited online entries and the acceptable last date for entries was until 22 January 2019. Feature and Non-Feature Films certified by Central Board of Film Certification between 1 January 2018, and 31 December 2018, were eligible for the film award categories. Books, critical studies, reviews or articles on cinema published in Indian newspapers, magazines, and journals between 1 January 2018, and 31 December 2018, were eligible for the best writing on cinema section. Entries of dubbed, revised or copied versions of a film or translation, abridgements, edited or annotated works and reprints were ineligible for the awards.[3]
For the Feature and Non-Feature Films sections, films in any Indian language, shot on 16 mm, 35 mm, a wider film gauge or a digital format, and released in cinemas, on video or digital formats for home viewing were eligible. Films were required to be certified as a feature film, a featurette or a Documentary/Newsreel/Non-Fiction by the Central Board of Film Certification.[3]
Best Film Friendly State
The awards aim at encouraging study and appreciation of cinema as an art form and dissemination of information and critical appreciation of this art-form through a State Government Policy.
- Jury Members
| • Ramesh Sippy (Chairperson) |
| • Vivek Agnihotri |
| • Uday Singh |
| Award | Name of State | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Best Film Friendly State | State of Uttarakhand | For furthering the growth of the film industry in the State including creating an environment for ease of filming in the State, encouraging skill/talent development, incentivizing the re-opening of closed cinema halls, formation of film development fund, continuing with the earlier incentive plan for filming, formation of Utttarakhand Film Development Council among other pro active initiatives. |
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.[4] The recipient is awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', cash prize, and a shawl.
| Award | Image | Awardee(s) | Awarded As | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dadasaheb Phalke Award |  |
Amitabh Bachchan | Actor | ₹1 million (US$13,000) |
Feature films
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 director Priyadarshan, 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
| • Rahul Rawail (Chairperson) | |
| • Rajdutt | • Sabyasachi Mohapatra |
| • K. Vasu | • Archana R. Singh |
| • Vijayakrishnan | • Major Ravi |
| • Imo Singh | • Vinod Ganatra |
| • B. S. Lingadevaru | • Ashok Rane |
Northern Region: (Bhojpuri, Dogri, English, Hindi, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Urdu)
| • Major Ravi (Head) | |
| • Kuldip Sinha | • Rahul Solapurkar |
| • Ashok Sharan | • Devendra Khandelwal |
Eastern Region: (Assamese, Bengali, Odia and North-Eastern dialects)
| • Vinod Ganatra (Head) | |
| • Monalisa Mukherjee | • Namasrri |
| • Akashaditya Lama | • Suraj Kumar Duwarah |
Western Region: (Gujarati, Konkani, Marathi)
| • B. S. Lingadevaru (Head) | |
| • Gyan Sahay | • Mahendra Teredesai |
| • Parag Chhapekar | • Neeraj Pathak |
Southern Region I: (Malayalam, Tamil)
| • Ashok Rane (Head) | |
| • B. Divaker | • A. Karthik Raja |
| • Jayaram Kailas | • Shailesh Gupta |
Southern Region II: (Kannada, Telugu)
| • Imo Singh (Head) | |
| • Malti Sahay | • M. K. Bhaskara Rao |
| • S. M. Patil | • B. Ramani |
Golden Lotus Awards
Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
| Award | Film | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Feature Film | Hellaro | Gujarati | Producer: Saarthi Productions LLP Director: Abhishek Shah |
₹ 250,000/- each |
| Best Debut Film of a Director | Naal | Marathi | Producer: Mrudhgandh Films LLP Director: Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti |
₹ 125,000/- each |
| Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment | Badhaai Ho | Hindi | Producer: Junglee Pictures Limited Director: Amit Sharma |
₹ 200,000/- each |
| Best Children's Film | Sarkari Hi. Pra. Shaale, Kasaragodu, Koduge: Ramanna Rai | Kannada | Producer & Director: Rishab Shetty | ₹ 150,000/- each |
| Best Direction | Uri: The Surgical Strike | Hindi | Aditya Dhar | ₹ 250,000/- |
Silver Lotus Award
Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)', a certificate and 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. 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.
- Best Feature Film in Each of the Language Other Than Those Specified In the Schedule VIII of the Constitution
| Award | Film | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Producer | Director | |||
| Best Feature Film in Pangchenpa | In The Land Of Poison Women | Aaas Productions | Manju Borah | ₹ 1,00,000/- each |
| Best Feature Film in Rajasthani | Turtle | Shivazza Films & Entertainment | Dinesh S Yadav | ₹ 1,00,000/- each |
| Best Feature Film in Garo | Ma.ama | Anna Films | Dominic Sangma | ₹ 1,00,000/- each |
| Best Feature Film in Sherdukpen | Mishing | BB Entertainment Trade Private Limited | Bobby Sarma Baruah | ₹ 1,00,000/- each |
Non-Feature Films
Short Films made in any Indian language and certified by the Central Board of Film Certification as a documentary/newsreel/fiction are eligible for non-feature film section.
Jury
A committee of seven, headed by cinematographer A. S. Kanal, was appointed to evaluate the Non-Feature Films entries. The jury members were:
| • A. S. Kanal (Chairperson) | |
| • Dhvani Desai | • Rajendra Mohapatra |
| • Chetan Mathur | • B. R. Srivatsa |
| • Vandana Kohli | • Atul Gangawar |
Golden Lotus Award
Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
| Award | Film | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Non-Feature Film | Son Rise & The Secret Life of Frogs | Vibha Bakshi
Ajay Bedi & Vijay Bedi |
₹ 150,000/- each | |
| Best Director in Non-Feature Film | Feluda: 50 Years of Ray's Detective | Bengali | Sagnik Chatterjee | ₹ 150,000/- |
Silver Lotus Award
Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the Awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)' and cash prize.
| Award | Film | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best First Non-Feature Film | Son Rise | Vibha Bakshi | ₹ 75,000/- each | |
| Best Biographical Film / Best Historical Reconstruction / Compilation Film | ₹ 50,000/- each | |||
| Best Arts / Cultural Film | Bunkar - The Last of the Varanasi Weavers | English with Hindi | Satyaprakash Upadhyay | ₹ 50,000/- each |
| Best Environment Film including Best Agricultural Film | The World's Most Famous Tiger | Subbiah
Nallamuthu |
₹ 50,000/- each | |
| Best Promotional Film | Rediscovering Jajam | Avinash Maurya, Kriti Gupta (Directors)
Rachel Bracken Singh (Producer) |
₹ 50,000/- each | |
| Best Film on Social Issues | Taala Te Kunjee | Shilpi Gulati (Director)
Simardeep Singh (Producer) |
₹ 50,000/- each | |
| Best Educational / Motivational / Instructional Film | Sarala Virala | Kannada | Ere Gowda | ₹ 50,000/- each |
| Best Anthropological/Ethnographic Film | ₹ 50,000/- each | |||
| Best Exploration / Adventure Film (including sports) | Swimming Through The Darkness | Supriyo Sen | ₹ 50,000/- each | |
| Best Investigative Film | Amoli | Jasmine Kaur Roy
Avinash Roy Sameer Pitalwalla |
₹ 50,000/- each | |
| Best Animation Film | ₹ 50,000/- each | |||
| Best Short Fiction Film | Kharvas | Aditya Suhas Jambhale | ₹ 50,000/- each | |
| Best Film on Family Welfare | Chalo Jeetey Hai | ₹ 50,000/- each | ||
| Best Cinematography | The Secret Life of Frogs | Ajay Bedi, Vijay Bedi | ₹ 50,000/- each | |
| Best Audiography | Children Of the Soil | Bishwadeep Chatterjee | ₹ 50,000/- | |
| Best Audiography • Location Sound Recordist |
The Secret Life of Frogs | Ajay Bedi | ₹ 50,000/- | |
| Best Editing | Son Rise | Hemanti Sarkar | ₹ 50,000/- | |
| Best Music Direction | Jyoti | Kedar Divekar | ₹ 50,000/- | |
| Best Narration / Voice Over | Madhubani: The Station Of Colour | "Urvija Upadhyay" "Deepak Agnihotri" | ₹ 50,000/- | |
| Special Mention | Mahaan Hutatma Glow Worm in a Jungle Laddoo |
Kannada English Hindi |
Sagar Puranik Ramana Dumpala Sameer and Kishore Sadhwani |
Certificate only |
Best Writing on Cinema
The awards aim at encouraging study and appreciation of cinema as an art form and dissemination of information and critical appreciation of this art-form through publication of books, articles, reviews etc.
Jury
A committee of three, headed by Utpal Borpujari was appointed to evaluate the nominations for the best writing on Indian cinema. The jury members were as follows:
| • Utpal Borpujari (Chairperson) | |
| • Mohan Raman | • Yatindra Mishra |
Golden Lotus Award
Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with the Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal) accompanied with a cash prize.
| Award | Book | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Book on Cinema | Mouna Prathanapole | Malayalam | Publisher: Kerala State Chalachitra Academy Author: S. Jayachandran Nair |
₹ 75,000/- each |
| Best Film Critic | N/A | • Malayalam • Hindi |
• Blais Johnny • Anant Vijay |
₹ 75,000/- |
| Special Mention | In A Cult Of Their Own: Bollywood Beyond Box Office | English | Amborish Roychoudhury | Certificate Only |
References
- "The Economic Times". IANS. 24 April 2019. Archived from the original on 23 May 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
- "66th National Film Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- "Call for entries; 66th National Film Awards for 2018" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- "17th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. p. 38. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.