Indian cinema’s biggest official honour is out, and it’s a genuinely pan-India spread this year.
The 72nd National Film Awards were announced on July 18 at the National Media Centre in New Delhi, recognising films certified by the CBFC through 2024, with 161 films across 24 languages competing in 16 categories.
Article 370 wins Best Feature Film as Kartik Aaryan, Mammootty and Yami Gautam take top acting honours. Here’s the complete 72nd National Film Awards winners list.
72nd National Film Awards 2026 Winners List:
Major Awards
- Best Feature Film: Article 370
- Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Kalki 2898 AD
- Best Director: Rajkumar Periasamy (Amaran)
- Best Actor (Shared): Kartik Aaryan (Chandu Champion), Mammootty (Brahmayugam)
- Best Actress: Yami Gautam (Article 370)
- Best Supporting Actor: Sanjay Mishra (Bhakshak)
- Best Supporting Actress (Shared): Rupashree Warkade (Mithya), Sachana Namidass (Maharaja)
- Best Children’s Film: 35 Chinna Katha Kaadu
- Best Child Artist (Shared): Arundev Pothula (35 Chinna Katha Kaadu); Riddhiman Banerjee, Tapomoy Dev and Geetashree Chakraborty (Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan)
- Best Debut Film of a Director: Randeep Hooda (Swatantrya Veer Savarkar)
- Special Mention: Meiyazhagan (Suren G, Sound Mixing); Captain Miller (Dhanush)
- Best Feature Film Promoting National, Environmental and Social Values: Captain Miller
Screenplay Awards
- Best Original Screenplay: Sukumar (Pushpa 2: The Rule)
- Best Adapted Screenplay: Yogesh Deshpande (Swaragandharva Sudhir Phadke)
- Best Screenplay (Dialogues): Venky Atluri (Lucky Bhaskar)
Technical Awards
- Best Music Direction (Background Score): GV Prakash Kumar (Amaran)
- Best Music Direction (Songs): Shashwat Sachdev (Article 370)
- Best Lyrics: Manoj Muntashir (Maidaan)
- Best Male Playback Singer: Abhay Jodhpurkar (Gharat Ganpati)
- Best Female Playback Singer: Vaikom Vijayalakshmi (ARM)
- Best Cinematography: Shehnad Jalal (Brahmayugam)
- Best Editing: R Kalaivanan (Amaran)
- Best Production Design: Nitin Zihani Choudhary (Kalki 2898 AD)
- Best Costume Design: Deepali Noor and Sheetal Sharma (Pushpa 2: The Rule)
- Best Makeup: P. Ravikumar (Committee Kurrollu)
- Best Sound Design: Manas Chaudhary (Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3)
- Best Action Direction: Maharaja
- Best Choreography: Vijay Ganguly (Stree 2)
Best Regional Film Winners
- Telugu: Committee Kurrollu
- Tamil: Raayan
- Malayalam: Feminichi Fathima
- Hindi: Srikanth
- Kannada: Mithya
- Marathi: Mukkam Post Bombilwadi
- Bengali: Chalachitra Ekhon
- Assamese: Jui
- Odia: Lahari
- Gujarati: Maran
- Konkani: Mog Asum
- Manipuri: Sunita
- Tulu: Imbu
- Garhwali: Dholi
Why This Year’s List Stands Out
What makes this edition genuinely notable is how spread out the wins are.
Rather than one or two films sweeping the major categories, honours went across Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and several other regional industries, with both a mainstream political drama and a horror film in a regional language sharing the top acting prize.
Pushpa 2: The Rule and Kalki 2898 AD, two of the biggest commercial hits of the year, both picked up technical honours, showing that scale and craft recognition aren’t mutually exclusive at these awards.
For Kartik Aaryan and Yami Gautam especially, this marks a significant career moment, cementing performances that were already generating awards buzz well before the official announcement.
Meanwhile, Randeep Hooda’s Best Debut Director win adds a genuinely rare feather to an already accomplished acting career.
Lead Image: BH, IMDb, TOI
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