72nd National Film Awards: Article 370 sweeps top honours, Kartik Aaryan, Mammootty, Yami Gautam among big winners

The winners of the 72nd National Film Awards were announced in New Delhi on Saturday, with Article 370 emerging as the biggest winner of the evening.

The political thriller won the Best Feature Film award, while its lead actor Yami Gautam was honoured with the Best Actress award. In the acting categories, Kartik Aaryan and Mammootty shared the Best Actor award for their performances in Chandu Champion and Bramayugam, respectively.

The awards were announced by the jury chaired by acclaimed Malayalam filmmaker Jayaraj. The honours recognised films certified by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024.

Acting Honours Shared Across Industries

One of the highlights of this year's awards was the Best Actor category, where Kartik Aaryan won for portraying India's first Paralympic gold medallist Murlikant Petkar in Chandu Champion, while Malayalam superstar Mammootty was recognised for his performance in the horror drama Bramayugam.

Yami Gautam took home the Best Actress award for Article 370, adding another milestone to the film's successful awards run.

The Best Supporting Actor award went to Sanjay Mishra for Bhakshak, while Ropashree Varkady (Mithya) and Sachana Namidass (Maharaja) shared the Best Supporting Actress honour.

'Amaran', 'Kalki 2898 AD' And 'Captain Miller' Also Shine

Director Rajkumar Periasamy won the Best Director award for Amaran, which also picked up awards for Best Background Music (GV Prakash) and Best Editing (R Kalaivannan).

The sci-fi blockbuster Kalki 2898 AD was named Best Feature Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. The film also won the Best Production Design award.

Meanwhile, Captain Miller received the Best Film Promoting National, Social Values award. Actor Dhanush also received a Special Mention for his performance in the film.

Among the technical awards, Sukumar won Best Screenplay for Pushpa 2, while Venky Atluri was honoured as Best Dialogue Writer for Lucky Baskhar.

Anl Arasu won Best Action Direction for Maharaja, while Pushpa 2 also secured the Best Costume Design award for Deepali Noor and Sheetal Sharma.

Music And Technical Winners

In the music categories, Shashwat Sachdev won Best Music Direction (Songs) for Article 370, while GV Prakash received Best Background Music for Amaran.

Manoj Muntashir was named Best Lyricist for Maidaan.

Abhay Jodhpurkar won Best Male Playback Singer for Gharat Ganpati from Navasachi Gauri Mazi, while Vaikom Vijayalakshmi was honoured as Best Female Playback Singer for Angu Vaana Konilu from ARM.

Other notable winners included:

• Best Choreography: Vijay Ganguly (Stree 2)
• Best Sound Design: Manas Choudhury (Bhool Bhulaiya 3)
• Best Cinematography: Shehnad Jalaal (Bramayugam)
• Best Make-Up Artist: Committee Kurrollu

Regional Cinema Gets Recognition

The awards also celebrated outstanding films across Indian languages.

Srikanth won Best Hindi Film, while Feminichi Fathima was named Best Malayalam Film.

Other regional winners included:

• Best Tamil Film: Raayan
• Best Telugu Film: Committee Kurrollu
• Best Kannada Film: Mithya
• Best Marathi Film: Mukkam Post Bombilwadi
• Best Bengali Film: Chalchitra Ekhon
• Best Assamese Film: Juiphool
• Best Odia Film: Lahari
• Best Gujarati Film: Maaran
• Best Garhwali Film: Dholi
• Best Manipuri Film: Sunita
• Best Konkani Film: Mog Asum
• Best Tulu Film: IMBU

The Best Child Artist award was jointly presented to Riddhiman Banerjee, Tapomoy Deb, Gitashree Chakraborty, Arundev Pothula and Athish S Shetty.

Non-Feature Awards

In the non-feature section, Bhangaar (Obsolete) won Best Non-Feature Film, while Angen (Invisible) was named Best Debut Film of a Director.

Ram-Nami, directed by Bharatbala Ganapathy, won Best Documentary, while Piplantri: A Tale of Eco Feminism received the award for Best Non-Feature Film Promoting Social and Environmental Values.

Other winners included Hamsafar (Best Short Film), Touched as Water (Best Animation Film), Main Nida (Best Arts/Culture Film), Kakori (Best Biographical/Historical Reconstruction Film) and Statue of Unity – Ekta ka Prateek, which earned Aanand L Rai the Best Direction award in the non-feature category.

The jury also announced Special Mention awards for Dhanush (Captain Miller), Suren G (Meiyazhagan), *Bhadra-Kali Natakam (Bhadra – The Dance of Kali) and Chola Dora aur Sui.