# 69th National Film Awards

The 69th National Film Awards ceremony was an event during which the National Film Development Corporation of India presented its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2021 in Indian cinema. The awards ceremony was originally slated to be held on 3 May 2022 but was postponed due to delays after the COVID-19 pandemic. The winners were announced on 24 August 2023, by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in a press conference. The winners along with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipient were felicitated by the President, Droupadi Murmu on 17 October 2023 at the Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

## Selection process

The National Film Development Corporation of India invited online entries on 31 March 2023 with the acceptable last date for entries until 10 May 2023. Feature and Non-Feature Films certified by the Central Board of Film Certification between 1 January 2021, and 31 December 2021, 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 2021, and 31 December 2021, 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.
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.

## Dadasaheb Phalke Award

Introduced in 1969, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest award in the field of cinema 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. The recipient is awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award' (Swarna Kamal), cash prize of ₹1 million (US$12,000) and a shawl. The 2021 recipient is Waheeda Rehman.
A committee consisting five eminent personalities from Indian film industry was appointed to evaluate the lifetime achievement award, Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Following were the jury members:
* Jury Members
* • Asha Parekh
* • Chiranjeevi
* • Paresh Rawal
* • Shekhar Kapur
* • Prosenjit Chatterjee
| Award | Image | Awardee(s) | Awarded As | Cash Prize |
| Dadasaheb Phalke Award | | Waheeda Rehman | Actress | ₹1,000,000 (US$12,000) |

## Feature films
### 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 | Rocketry: The Nambi Effect | Tamil Hindi | Director: R. Madhavan | ₹250,000 |
| Best Direction | Godavari | Marathi | Nikhil Mahajan | ₹250,000 |
| Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment | RRR | Telugu | Producer: D. V. V. Danayya Director: S. S. Rajamouli | ₹200,000 each |
| Best Children's Film | Gandhi & Co. | Gujarati | Producer: MD Media Corp Director: Manish Saini | ₹150,000 each |
| Best Debut Film of a Director | Meppadiyan | Malayalam | Producer: Unni Mukundan Director: Vishnu Mohan | ₹125,000 each |

### Silver Lotus Award

Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
| Award | Film | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
| Best Feature Film on National Integration | The Kashmir Files | Hindi | Producer: Abhishek Agarwal Arts Director: Vivek Agnihotri | ₹150,000 each |
| Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation | Aavasavyuham | Malayalam | Producer: Krishand Director: Krishand | ₹150,000 each |
| Best Film on Other Social Issues | Anunaad – The Resonance | Assameese | Producer: Assam State Film Corporation Director: Reema Borah | ₹150,000 each |
| Best Actor | Pushpa: The Rise | Telugu | Allu Arjun | ₹50,000 |
| Best Actress | Gangubai Kathiawadi | Hindi | Alia Bhatt | ₹50,000 each |
| Best Actress | Mimi | Hindi | Kriti Sanon | ₹50,000 each |
| Best Supporting Actor | Mimi | Hindi | Pankaj Tripathi | ₹50,000 |
| Best Supporting Actress | The Kashmir Files | Hindi | Pallavi Joshi | ₹50,000 |
| Best Child Artist | Chhello Show | Gujarati | Bhavin Rabari | ₹50,000 |
| Best Male Playback Singer | RRR | Telugu | Kaala Bhairava ("Komuram Bheemudo") | ₹50,000 |
| Best Female Playback Singer | Iravin Nizhal | Tamil & Telugu | Shreya Ghoshal ("Mayava Chayava") | ₹50,000 |
| Best Cinematography | Sardar Udham | Hindi | Avik Mukhopadhyay | ₹50,000 |
| Best Screenplay • Screenplay Writer (Original) | Nayattu | Malayalam | Shahi Kabir | ₹50,000 |
| Best Screenplay • Screenplay Writer (Adapted) | Gangubai Kathiawadi | Hindi | Sanjay Leela Bhansali Utkarshini Vashishtha | ₹50,000 |
| Best Screenplay • Dialogues | Gangubai Kathiawadi | Hindi | Utkarshini Vashishtha Prakash Kapadia | ₹50,000 |
| Best Audiography • Location Sound Recordist | Chavittu | Malayalam | Arun Asok Sonu KP | ₹50,000 |
| Best Audiography • Sound Designer | Jhilli | Bengali | Aneesh Basu | ₹50,000 |
| Best Audiography • Re-recordist of the Final Mixed Track | Sardar Udham | Hindi | Sinoy Joseph | ₹50,000 |
| Best Music Direction • Songs | Pushpa: The Rise | Telugu | Devi Sri Prasad | ₹50,000 |
| Best Music Direction • Background Score | RRR | Telugu | M. M. Keeravani | ₹50,000 |
| Best Editing | Gangubai Kathiawadi | Hindi | Sanjay Leela Bhansali | ₹50,000 |
| Best Production Design | Sardar Udham | Hindi | Dmitri Malich-Konkov Mansi Dhruv Mehta | ₹50,000 |
| Best Costume Design | Sardar Udham | Hindi | Veera Kapur Ee | ₹50,000 |
| Best Make-up Artist | Gangubai Kathiawadi | Hindi | Preetishsheel Singh D'Souza | ₹50,000 |
| Best Lyrics | Konda Polam | Telugu | Chandrabose ("Dham Dham Dham") | ₹50,000 |
| Best Special Effects | RRR | Telugu | V. Srinivas Mohan | ₹50,000 |
| Best Choreography | RRR | Telugu | Prem Rakshith ("Naatu Naatu") | ₹50,000 |
| Best Stunt Choreographer | RRR | Telugu | King Soloman | ₹50,000 |
| Special Jury Award | Shershaah | Hindi | Producer: Karan Johar, Dharma Productions Director: Vishnuvardhan | ₹2,00,000 each |
| Special Mention | Nallandi Aranya & Bithan Indrans Jahanara Begum | Tamil Bengali Malayalam Assamese | Kadaisi Vivasayi Jhilli Home Anur | Certificate only |

### 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.
| Award | Film | Awardee(s) | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
| Award | Film | Producer | Director | Cash Prize |
| Best Feature Film in Assamese | Anur | Gopendra Mohan Das | Monjul Baruah | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Bengali | Kalkokkho | Anjan Bose | Rajdeep Paul, Sarmistha Maiti | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Gujarati | Chhello Show | Pan Nalin, Dheer Momaya, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Marc Duale | Pan Nalin | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Hindi | Sardar Udham | Ronnie Lahiri, Sheel Kumar | Shoojit Sircar | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Kannada | 777 Charlie | G. S. Gupta, Rakshit Shetty | Kiranraj K. | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Maithili | Samanantar | Niraj Kumar Mishra, Atul Pandey | Niraj Kumar Mishra | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Malayalam | Home | Vijay Babu | Rojin Thomas | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Manipuri | Eikhoigi Yum | Romi Meitei & Chingsubam Sheetal | Romi Meitei | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Marathi | Ekda Kaay Zala | Saleel Kulkarni, Siddharth Mahadevan, Soumil Shringarpure, Siddharth Khinvasara, Soumendu Kuber, Arundhati Datye, Anoop Nimkar, Nitin Prakash Vaidya | Saleel Kulkarni | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Odia | Pratikshya | Anupam Patnaik | Anupam Patnaik | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Tamil | Kadaisi Vivasayi | M. Manikandan | M. Manikandan | ₹1,00,000 each |
| Best Feature Film in Telugu | Uppena | Naveen Yerneni, Y. Ravi Shankar | Buchi Babu Sana | ₹1,00,000 each |

## Non-Feature films

Non-feature 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.

### 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 | Ek Tha Gaon | | Producer & Director: Srishti Lakhera | ₹1,50,000 each |
| Best Director of Non-Feature Film | Smile Please | Hindi | Bakul Matiyani | ₹1,50,000 |

### 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 Debut Non-Feature Film of A Director | Paanchika | | Producer: Shreya Kapadiya Director: Ankit Kothari | ₹ 75,000/- each |
| Best Biographical Film | Beyond Blast | Manipuri | Producer: Konjengbam Sushila Leima Director: Saikhom Ratan | ₹ 50,000/- each |
| Best Biographical Film | Rukhu Matir Dukhu Majhi | Bengali | Producer: Somnath Mondal Director: Somnath Mondal | ₹ 50,000/- each |
| Best Arts / Cultural Film | T. N. Krishnan Bow Strings to Divine | | Producer: National Film Development Corporation of India Director: V. Packirisamy | ₹ 50,000/- each |
| Best Environment Film | Munnam Valavu | Malayalam | Producer: Sree Gokulam Movies Director: R S Pradeep | ₹ 50,000/- each |
| Best Promotional Film | Endangered Heritage | | Producer: Baba Cinemas Director: Hemant Verma | ₹ 50,000/- each |
| Best Film on Social Issues | Mithu Di Three Two One | | Producer: Asim Kumar Sinha Director: Asim Kumar Sinha | ₹150,000 each |
| Best Film on Social Issues | Three Two One | | Producer: Film and Television Institute of India Director: Himanshu Prajapati | ₹150,000 each |
| Best Educational Film | Sirpigalin Sirpangal | Tamil | Producer: KKV Media Venture Director: B. Lenin | ₹ 50,000/- each |
| Best Ethnographic Film | | | Producer: Director: | ₹ 50,000/- each |
| Best Exploration Film | Ayushman | English Kannada | Producer: Mathew Varghese Dinesh Rajkumar N. Naveen Francis Director: Jacob Varghese | ₹50,000/- each |
| Best Investigative Film | Looking for Challan | English | Producer: IGNCA Director: Bappa Ray | ₹50,000/- each |
| Best Animation Film | Kandittundu | Malayalam | Producer: Studio Eeksaurus Productions Pvt. Ltd. Director: Adithi Krishnadas | ₹50,000/- |
| Best Short Fiction Film | Dal Bhat | Gujarati | Producer & Director: Nemil Shah | ₹50,000/- each |
| Best Film on Family Values | Chand Saanse | Hindi | Producer: Chandrakant Kulkarni Director: Pratima Joshi | ₹50,000/- each |
| Best Cinematography | Pataal-Tee | Bhotiya | Bittu Rawat | ₹50,000/- each |
| Best Audiography | Ek Tha Gaon | Garhwali Hindi | Re-recordist: Krishnanunni N R | ₹50,000/- |
| Best Location Sound Recordist (Location/Sync Sound) | Meen Raag | Rajasthani | Production Sound Recordist: Suruchi Sharma | ₹50,000/- |
| Best Editing | If Memory Serves Me Right | English | Abhro Banerjee | ₹50,000/- |
| Best Music Direction | Succulent | Hindi English Marathi | Ishaan Divecha | ₹50,000/- |
| Best Narration / Voice Over | Hati Bondhu | English Assamese | Kulada Kumar Bhattacharjee | ₹50,000/- |
| Special Jury Award | Rekha | Marathi | Shekhar Bapu Rankhambe | ₹1,00,000/- |
| Special Mention Award | Karuvarai | Tamil | Ganesh Babu, Srikanth Deva | |