National Film Award for Best Feature Film
Winners
Films in the following languages have won the Best Feature Film award:

National Film Award for Best Feature Film

Section Title: Winners
Table Section Text: Films in the following languages have won the Best Feature Film award:

List of films, showing the year (award ceremony), language(s), producer(s), director(s) and citation

Year	Film(s)	Language(s)	Producer(s)	Director(s)	Citation	Refs.

1953 (1st)	Shyamchi Aai	Marathi	Pralhad Keshav Atre	Pralhad Keshav Atre	–

1954 (2nd)	Mirza Ghalib	Hindi	Sohrab Modi	Sohrab Modi	–

1955 (3rd)	Pather Panchali	Bengali	Government of West Bengal	Satyajit Ray	–

1956 (4th)	Kabuliwala	Bengali	Charuchitra	Tapan Sinha	–

1957 (5th)	Do Aankhen Barah Haath	Hindi	V. Shantaram	V. Shantaram	–

1958 (6th)	Sagar Sangamey	Bengali	De Luxe Film Distributors	Debaki Bose	–

1959 (7th)	Apur Sansar	Bengali	Satyajit Ray Productions	Satyajit Ray	–

1960 (8th)	Anuradha	Hindi	Hrishikesh Mukherjee L. B. Thakur	Hrishikesh Mukherjee	–

1961 (9th)	Bhagini Nivedita	Bengali	Aurora Film Corporation	Bijoy Bose	–

1962 (10th)	Dada Thakur	Bengali	Shyamlal Jalan	Sudhir Mukherjee	–

1963 (11th)	Shehar Aur Sapna	Hindi	Naya Sansar	Khwaja Ahmad Abbas	–

1964 (12th)	Charulata	Bengali	R. D. Bansal	Satyajit Ray	–

1965 (13th)	Chemmeen	Malayalam	Babu Ismail Settu	Ramu Kariat	–

1966 (14th)	Teesri Kasam	Hindi	Shailendra	Basu Bhattacharya	–

1967 (15th)	Hatey Bazarey	Bengali	Asim Dutta	Tapan Sinha	–

1968 (16th)	Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne	Bengali	Nepal Dutta Asim Dutta	Satyajit Ray	–

1969 (17th)	Bhuvan Shome	Hindi	Mrinal Sen Productions	Mrinal Sen	–

1970 (18th)	Samskara	Kannada	Pattabhirama Reddy	Pattabhirama Reddy	–

1971 (19th)	Seemabaddha	Bengali	Bharat Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana	Satyajit Ray	–

1972 (20th)	Swayamvaram	Malayalam	Adoor Gopalakrishnan	Adoor Gopalakrishnan	–

1973 (21st)	Nirmalyam	Malayalam	M. T. Vasudevan Nair	M. T. Vasudevan Nair	–

1974 (22nd)	Chorus	Bengali	Mrinal Sen Productions	Mrinal Sen	–

1975 (23rd)	Chomana Dudi	Kannada	Praja Films	B. V. Karanth	–

1976 (24th)	Mrigayaa	Hindi	Uday Bhaskar International	Mrinal Sen	–

1977 (25th)	Ghatashraddha	Kannada	Sadanand Suvarna	Girish Kasaravalli	For lifting the creative cinema of that region to new levels of artistic excellence, for delicacy of treatment and subtle use of the film medium, for the shifting perspective through which the tragic solution is revealed, for projecting the painful, tremulous transition from innocence to experience, for searing intellectual honesty, for the fusion of all the elements into a form so distinctive as to declare it a masterpiece.

1978 (26th)	No Award

1979 (27th)	Shodh	Hindi	Sitakant Misra	Biplab Roy Choudhary	–

1980 (28th)	Akaler Shandhaney	Bengali	D. K. Films	Mrinal Sen	For brilliantly recreating the tragedy of the 1943 Bengal famine and focussing on the disturbing continuity of the conditions which created it, for the cinematic excellence of the film which explores human experience at the different levels and for the consummate artistry with which the complexity of the social-economic situation is fused into a poignant statement.

1981 (29th)	Dakhal	Bengali	West Bengal Film Industry	Gautam Ghose	For the visual eloquence with which it portrays the travails of a daughter of a soil courageously fighting for a social justice in the face of all odds and for the remarkable ability of its young director who writes the screenplay, handles the camera, scores the music and directs the film in a poetic manner.

1982 (30th)	Chokh	Bengali	Department of Information, Cultural Affairs India Government of West Bengal	Utpalendu Chakrabarty	For its courage in exposing an aspect of contemporary reality which has great social relevance and for doing so with passion and integrity.

1983 (31st)	Adi Shankaracharya	Sanskrit	NFDC	G. V. Iyer	For its dedication, depth and power and the impressive skill with which it captures the Indian philosophical tradition.

1984 (32nd)	Damul	Hindi	Prakash Jha Productions	Prakash Jha	–

1985 (33rd)	Chidambaram	Malayalam	G. Aravindan	G. Aravindan	For providing rare cinematic experience while delineating the inner conflicts and suffering of an individual set against the backdrop of the elements.

1986 (34th)	Tabarana Kathe	Kannada	Girish Kasaravalli	Girish Kasaravalli	For an extremely sensitive probe into the anguish of a helpless individual caught in a bureaucratic web, depicted with great feeling and expertise as he waits for his pension, which arrives too late.

1987 (35th)	Halodhia Choraye Baodhan Khai	Assamese	Sailadhar Baruah Jahnu Barua	Jahnu Barua	For its mastery of cinematic form and the totality of its film craft and for its authentic depiction of the Indian rural problem and for the life affirmating human dignity it portrays in the face of the most trying social circumstances.

1988 (36th)	Piravi	Malayalam	Film Folks	Shaji N. Karun	For creattive evocation of human pathos with refined cinematic sensitivity.

1989 (37th)	Bagh Bahadur	Bengali	Buddhadeb Dasgupta	Buddhadeb Dasgupta	For its portrayal of the steady destruction of rural folk traditions at the hands of a cheap and showy urban culture in the form a cinematically vibrant and heroic classical tragedy.

1990 (38th)	Marupakkam	Tamil	NFDC	K. S. Sethumadhavan	For striking a balance between the existing traditional values and the modern values that are infused subsequently, and for treating the subject with the highest standards or aesthetic excellence.

1991 (39th)	Agantuk	Bengali	NFDC	Satyajit Ray	For its masterly treatment of an unusual subject investing it with humour, suspense and drama accomplishing remarkable insight into human behavior.

1992 (40th)	Bhagwat Gita	Sanskrit	T. Subbarami Reddy	G. V. Iyer	For successfully translating immortal philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita into a cinematic idiom.

1993 (41st)	Charachar	Bengali	Gita Gope Shankar Gope	Buddhadeb Dasgupta	For its poetic and typical representation of the eternal human longing for liberation and man's alienation from Nature.

1994 (42nd)	Unishe April	Bengali	Rituparno Ghosh	Rituparno Ghosh	For a complex and impeccable rendition of fragmenting family relationships in urban India. The bond between a mother and daughter is extended to a defined space and time, and a drama immaculately constructed.

1995 (43rd)	Kathapurushan	Malayalam	Adoor Gopalakrishnan	Adoor Gopalakrishnan	For the remarkable portrayal of the individual born on the eve of Independence. The film gives an insight into the socio-political evolution of the post-independent India through the individual with outstanding cinematic qualities and universal appeal.

1996 (44th)	Lal Darja	Bengali	Chitrani Lahiri Dulal Roy	Buddhadeb Dasgupta	For its poetic presentation and exploration of complexities of human relationship in a contemporary urban milieu.

1997 (45th)	Thaayi Saheba	Kannada	Jayamala	Girish Kasaravalli	For its challenging portrayal of one woman who carries the burden of traditional constraints and restrictions of society and learns to overcome them with courage, dignity, sacrifice.

1998 (46th)	Samar	Hindi	Shyam Benegal Sahyadri Films NFDC	Shyam Benegal	For the innovative and human manner in which the director structures and presents a continuing social evil.

1999 (47th)	Vanaprastham	Malayalam	Pranavam Arts	Shaji N. Karun	For its multi layered treatment of issues like caste system, patronage to the arts, Guru Shishya Parampara, and the identity crisis of a performing artiste.

2000 (48th)	Shantham	Malayalam	P. V. Gangadharan	Jayaraj	For addressing the very contemporary issue of political rivalry and violence in our society in an unusually imaginative way. The language of the film goes beyond conventional narrative for appeal to calmness and good sense.

2001 (49th)	Dweepa	Kannada	Soundarya	Girish Kasaravalli	For the film combines integrity, creativity and aesthetics in its depiction of both the dilemmas and the spirit of a family who defy logic and weather to hold on to their roots.

2002 (50th)	Mondo Meyer Upakhyan	Bengali	Arya Bhattacharya	Buddhadeb Dasgupta	For its poetic exploration of human and social realities concerning people on the fringes of society.

2003 (51st)	Shwaas	Marathi	Arun Nalawade	Sandeep Sawant	For its sensitive and moving portrayal of the relationship between a grandfather and his grandson when the child is about to lose his vision.

2004 (52nd)	Page 3	Hindi	Bobby Pushkarna	Madhur Bhandarkar	For a complex and daring attempt which exposes the shallow world of Page 3 in a manner which is both savagely satirical yet gently ironical.

2005 (53rd)	Kaalpurush	Bengali	Jhamu Sughand	Buddhadeb Dasgupta	For a rare lyrical style and a unique cohesion of narrative structure and characters that allow it to flow on different planes.

2006 (54th)	Pulijanmam	Malayalam	M. G. Vijay	Priyanandanan	For a layered film that uses metaphors to address global and local issues of contemporary society.

2007 (55th)	Kanchivaram	Tamil	Percept Picture Company	Priyadarshan	For presenting a rare portrayal of Kanchi's silk weaver community, and the internal struggle of a weaver caught between his ideals and personal dreams.

2008 (56th)	Antaheen	Bengali	Screenplay Films	Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury	For lyrical blend of technical devices in the right proportion to depict shifting human relationships in an urban scenario.

2009 (57th)	Kutty Srank	Malayalam	Reliance Big Pictures	Shaji N. Karun	For its vision and cinematic craft that express the different perspectives of three women about the truth of the man in their lives.

2010 (58th)	Adaminte Makan Abu	Malayalam	Salim Ahamed Ashraf Bedi	Salim Ahamed	For a simple yet evocative articulation of humanist values that frees matters of faith from the constrictions of narrow parochialism. The concerns of Abu, son of Adam, are timeless and universal in their scope.

2011 (59th)	Deool	Marathi	Abhijeet Gholap	Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni	For its witty, satirical and penetrative account of the politics involved in the commercialization of religion in India. Through a wonderfully authentic depiction of village life, mentality and gesture, Deool has a social, religious and commercial sweep, even as it individualizes each of its characters and endows them with a language and space of their own.

Byari	Beary	Altaaf Hussain	Suveeran	For a powerful engagement with religious personal law handled with sensitivity and urgency. Through its female protagonist, writer director Suveeran, poignantly and dramatically conveys the trauma of a woman who has to deal with unjust religious strictures.

2012 (60th)	Paan Singh Tomar	Hindi	UTV Software Communications	Tigmanshu Dhulia	Powerful presentation of a true life story which highlights the urgent need of a social support system for sportspersons especially in rural India.

2013 (61st)	Ship of Theseus	English Hindi	Recyclewala Films Pvt. Ltd.	Anand Gandhi	A quietly powerful film of an unusual photographer, an erudite Jain monk and a young stock broker told through different segments which finally unites them through a strange circumstance.

2014 (62nd)	Court	Marathi Hindi Gujarati English	Zoo Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.	Chaitanya Tamhane	Court is a powerful and stark depiction of the mundaneness of judicial procedure revealed brilliantly by the film’s form, forcing us to reflect on the heartwrenching insensitivity of institutional structures.

2015 (63rd)	Baahubali: The Beginning	Telugu	Shobu Yarlagadda Arka Media Works (P) LTD.	S. S. Rajamouli	An imaginative film and monumental by its production values and cinematic brilliance in creating a fantasy world on screen.

2016 (64th)	Kaasav	Marathi	Sumitra Bhave Sunil Sukthankar Mohan Agashe	Sumitra Bhave Sunil Sukthankar	In appreciation of the perfect blending of an environmental behaviour and a personal one in a poignantly beautiful cinematic way.

2017 (65th)	Village Rockstars	Assamese	Rima Das	Rima Das

Sentence(s)

The inaugural award was named as "Gold Medal for the Best Feature Film" and was awarded to Marathi film, Shyamchi Aai, produced and directed by Pralhad Keshav Atre.

final_sentence: The inaugural award was named as "Gold Medal for the Best Feature Film" and was awarded to Marathi film, Shyamchi Aai, produced and directed by Pralhad Keshav Atre.