# National Film Award for Best Direction

The National Film Award for Best Direction is an honour presented annually at India's National Film Awards ceremony by the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), an organisation set up by the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Since 1967, the award is given by a national panel appointed annually by the NFDC to a director for their work within Indian cinema. It is presented by the president of India at a ceremony held in New Delhi.
The winner is given a "Swarna Kamal" (Golden Lotus) certificate and a cash prize of ₹3,00,000. Including ties and repeat winners, the NFDC has presented a total of 53 Best Direction awards to 34 different directors. Although Indian cinema produces films in more than twenty languages, the performances of films that have won awards are of nine languages: Bengali (16 awards), Malayalam (14 awards), Hindi (11 awards), Tamil (4 awards), English, Kannada and Marathi (3 awards each), Assamese and Punjabi (1 each).
The first recipient was Satyajit Ray, who was honoured at the 15th National Film Awards for directing the Bengali film Chiriyakhana (1967). Ray is also the most frequent recipient, with six wins. Adoor Gopalakrishnan has won 5 awards, which includes his debut Malayalam film Swayamvaram (1972). Mrinal Sen has been awarded four times. He is also the only recipient to win the award for directing films in two different languages: Bengali and Hindi. At the 19th National Film Awards, Girish Karnad and B.V. Karanth shared the award for co-directing the Kannada film Vamsha Vriksha (1972).

## Winners

List of award recipients, showing the year, film and language :
| Year | Recipient | Film | Language |
| 1967 (15th) | Satyajit Ray | Chiriyakhana | Bengali |
| 1968 (16th) | Satyajit Ray | Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne | Bengali |
| 1969 (17th) | Mrinal Sen | Bhuvan Shome | Hindi |
| 1970 (18th) | Satyajit Ray | Pratidwandi | Bengali |
| 1971 (19th) | B. V. Karanth | Vamsha Vriksha | Kannada |
| 1971 (19th) | Girish Karnad | Vamsha Vriksha | Kannada |
| 1972 (20th) | Adoor Gopalakrishnan | Swayamvaram | Malayalam |
| 1973 (21st) | Mani Kaul | Duvidha | Hindi |
| 1974 (22nd) | Satyajit Ray | Sonar Kella | Bengali |
| 1975 (23rd) | Satyajit Ray | Jana Aranya | Bengali |
| 1976 (24th) | P. Lankesh | Pallavi | Kannada |
| 1977 (25th) | G. Aravindan | Kanchana Sita | Malayalam |
| 1978 (26th) | G. Aravindan | Thampu | Malayalam |
| 1979 (27th) | Mrinal Sen | Ek Din Pratidin | Bengali |
| 1980 (28th) | Mrinal Sen | Akaler Shandhaney | Bengali |
| 1981 (29th) | Aparna Sen | 36 Chowringhee Lane | English |
| 1982 (30th) | Utpalendu Chakrabarty | Chokh | Bengali |
| 1983 (31st) | Mrinal Sen | Khandhar | Hindi |
| 1984 (32nd) | Adoor Gopalakrishnan | Mukhamukham | Malayalam |
| 1985 (33rd) | Shyam Benegal | Trikal | Hindi |
| 1986 (34th) | G. Aravindan | Oridathu | Malayalam |
| 1987 (35th) | Adoor Gopalakrishnan | Anantaram | Malayalam |
| 1988 (36th) | Shaji N. Karun | Piravi | Malayalam |
| 1989 (37th) | Adoor Gopalakrishnan | Mathilukal | Malayalam |
| 1990 (38th) | Tapan Sinha | Ek Doctor Ki Maut | Hindi |
| 1991 (39th) | Satyajit Ray | Agantuk | Bengali |
| 1992 (40th) | Goutom Ghosh | Padma Nadir Majhi | Bengali |
| 1993 (41st) | T. V. Chandran | Ponthan Mada | Malayalam |
| 1994 (42nd) | Jahnu Barua | Xagoroloi Bohudoor | Assamese |
| 1995 (43rd) | Saeed Akhtar Mirza | Naseem | Hindi |
| 1996 (44th) | Agathiyan | Kadhal Kottai | Tamil |
| 1997 (45th) | Jayaraj | Kaliyattam | Malayalam |
| 1998 (46th) | Rajeevnath | Janani | Malayalam |
| 1999 (47th) | Buddhadeb Dasgupta | Uttara | Bengali |
| 2000 (48th) | Rituparno Ghosh | Utsab | Bengali |
| 2001 (49th) | B. Lenin | Ooruku Nooruper | Tamil |
| 2002 (50th) | Aparna Sen | Mr. and Mrs. Iyer | English |
| 2003 (51st) | Goutom Ghosh | Abar Aranye | Bengali |
| 2004 (52nd) | Buddhadeb Dasgupta | Swapner Din | Bengali |
| 2005 (53rd) | Rahul Dholakia | Parzania | English |
| 2006 (54th) | Madhur Bhandarkar | Traffic Signal | Hindi |
| 2007 (55th) | Adoor Gopalakrishnan | Naalu Pennungal | Malayalam |
| 2008 (56th) | Bala | Naan Kadavul | Tamil |
| 2009 (57th) | Rituparno Ghosh | Abohomaan | Bengali |
| 2010 (58th) | Vetrimaaran | Aadukalam | Tamil |
| 2011 (59th) | Gurvinder Singh | Anhe Ghore Da Daan | Punjabi |
| 2012 (60th) | Shivaji Lotan Patil | Dhag | Marathi |
| 2013 (61st) | Hansal Mehta | Shahid | Hindi |
| 2014 (62nd) | Srijit Mukherji | Chotushkone | Bengali |
| 2015 (63rd) | Sanjay Leela Bhansali | Bajirao Mastani | Hindi |
| 2016 (64th) | Rajesh Mapuskar | Ventilator | Marathi |
| 2017 (65th) | Jayaraj | Bhayanakam | Malayalam |
| 2018 (66th) | Aditya Dhar | Uri: The Surgical Strike | Hindi |
| 2019 (67th) | Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan | Bahattar Hoorain | Hindi |
| 2020 (68th) | Sachy | Ayyappanum Koshiyum | Malayalam |
| 2021 (69th) | Nikhil Mahajan | Godavari | Marathi |
| 2022 (70th) | Sooraj Barjatya | Uunchai | Hindi |

## Footnotes

* ↑ The cash prize was ₹2,50,000, from 54th National Film Awards (2006) until 69th National Film Awards (2021). Before the 54th National Film Awards (2006), the cash prize was ₹50,000 (US$580), ₹25,000 (US$290) during the 35th National Film Awards, ₹20,000 (US$230) from 21st National Film Awards until 34th and ₹20,000 (US$230) from 1967 to 1972.
* ↑ Denotes the year in which the film was censored by the Central Board of Film Certification.