# National Film Award for Best Book on Cinema

The National Film Award for Best Book on Cinema is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awards presented for Best Writing on Indian Cinema and awarded with Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus).
The award was instituted in 1981, at 29th National Film Awards and awarded annually for books written in the year across the country, in all Indian languages.

## Winners

Award includes 'Swarna Kamal' (Golden Lotus) and cash prize. Following are the award winners over the years:
Awards legends :
* Indicates a joint award for the year
List of books, showing the year (award ceremony), language(s), author(s) and publisher(s) :
| Year | Book(s) | Language(s) | Author(s) | Publisher(s) |
| 1981 (29th) | Thamizh Cinemavin Kathai | Tamil | Aranthai Narayanan | – |
| 1982 (30th) | Chalachitra Sameeksha | Malayalam | Vijayakrishnan | – |
| 1983 (31st) | Cinemayude Lokam | Malayalam | Adoor Gopalakrishnan | – |
| 1984 (32nd) | Chalachitrer Abirbhab | Bengali | Jagannath Chathopadhyay | – |
| 1985 (33rd) | Guru Dutt: Teen Anki Shokantika | Marathi | Arun Khopkar | – |
| 1986 (34th) | Rabindranath O Chalachithra | Bengali | Arun Kumar Roy | – |
| 1987 (35th) | Kazhchayude Asanthi (Torments of Seeing) | Malayalam | V. Rajakrishnan | – |
| 1988 (36th) | The Moving Image | English | Kishore Vallicha | Orient Longman |
| 1989 (37th) | Shataranj Ke Khiladi | Hindi | Surendranath Tiwari | Madhya Pradesh Film Development Corporation |
| 1989 (37th) | Cinema, Kannakkum Kavithayum | Malayalam | Sreekumaran Thampi | Sahithya Pravarthaka |
| 1990 (38th) | Hindi Cinema Ka Itihaas | Hindi | Manmohan Chadhha | Sachin Prakashan |
| 1991 (39th) | Athmanindayude Pookal (Flowers of Self-Condemnation) | Malayalam | Aravindan Vallachira | V. R. Pushpakaran |
| 1992 (40th) | Awara | English | Gayatri Chatterjee | Wiley Eastern Ltd |
| 1993 (41st) | Naalo Nenu | Telugu | Bhanumathi Ramakrishna | K. N. T. Sastry |
| 1994 (42nd) | Abhinayam Anubhavam | Malayalam | Bharath Gopi | P. Bhuvanesan |
| 1995 (43rd) | Marathi Cinema: In Retrospect | English | Sanjit Narwekar | Govind Swarup |
| 1996 (44th) | The Eye of the Serpent | English | S. Theodore Baskaran | East West Books Pvt. Ltd. |
| 1997 (45th) | Cinemachi Goshta | Marathi | Anil Jhankar | Rajhans Prakashan |
| 1997 (45th) | Hindi Cinema Aur Delhi | Hindi | • Savita Bhakhri • Adithya Aswathi | Praveen Prakashan |
| 1998 (46th) | Cinemaee Bhasha Aur Hindi Samvadon Ka Vishleshan | Hindi | Kishore Vaswani | Hindi Book Centre |
| 1999 (47th) | Malayala Cinemayum Sahithyavum | Malayalam | Madhu Eravankara | D. C. Books |
| 1999 (47th) | Marathi Chitrapat Sangeetachi Vatchal | Marathi | Aruna Anant Damle | Anil Damle |
| 2000 (48th) | Sholay: The Making of a Classic | English | Anupama Chopra | Penguin Books |
| 2001 (49th) | Asoumiya Chalachitrar Chaa-Pohar | Assamese | Apurba Sarma | Jnan Pujari |
| 2001 (49th) | Moulik Marathi Chitrageete | Marathi | Gangadhar Mahambare | Rajiv D. Barve |
| 2002 (50th) | Paroma and other Outsiders: The Cinema of Aparna Sen | English | Shoma Chatterjee | Parumita Publications |
| 2002 (50th) | Ritu Aaye Ritu Jaaye | Hindi | Sarat Dutt | Saaransh Publications |
| 2003 (51st) | Filmi Jagat Mein Ardhashakti Ka Romanch | Hindi | Bharatiya Jnanpith | Ramakrishna |
| 2004 (52nd) | Stardust: Vignettes from the Fringes of Film Industry | English | Roopa Swaminathan | Penguin Books |
| 2005 (53rd) | Kundan | Hindi | Saransh Prakashan | Sharad Dutt |
| 2006 (54th) | Helen: The Life and Times of an H-Bomb | English | Jerry Pinto | Penguin Books |
| 2007 (55th) | From Raj to Swaraj: The Non-fiction Film in India | English | B. D. Garga | Penguin Books |
| 2008 (56th) | Bollywood Melodies | English | Ganesh Anantharaman | Penguin Books |
| 2009 (57th) | Cinemaa Yaana | Kannada | K. Puttaswamy | Hasiru Prakashana |
| 2010 (58th) | From Rajahs and Yogis to Gandhi and Beyond: Images of India in International Films of the Twentieth Century | English | Vijaya Mulay | Seagull Books |
| 2011 (59th) | R. D. Burman: The Man The Music | English | • Anirudha Bhattacharjee • Balaji Vittal | HarperCollins India |
| 2012 (60th) | Silent Cinema in India - A Pictorial Journey | English | B. D. Garga | HarperCollins India |
| 2013 (61st) | Cinema Ga Cinema | Telugu | Nandagopal | Praga India |
| 2014 (62nd) | Silent Cinema (1895–1930) | • English • Telugu | Pasupuleti Purnachandra Rao | Emesco Books |
| 2015 (63rd) | Dr. Rajkumar Samagra Charitre | Kannada | Doddahullur Rukkoji | Preethi Prakashana |
| 2016 (64th) | Lata : Sur Gatha | Hindi | Yatindra Mishra | Vani Prakashan |
| 2017 (65th) | Matmagi Manipur: The first Manipuri Feature Film | | Bobby Wahengbam | Angomningthou Preservation and Documentation |
| 2018 (66th) | Mouna Prathanapole | Malayalam | S. Jayachandran Nair | Kerala State Chalachitra Academy |
| 2019 (67th) | A Gandhian Affair: India's Curious Portrayal of Love in Cinema | English | Sanjay Suri | HarperCollins India |
| 2020 (68th) | The Longest Kiss: The Life and Times of Devika Rani | English | Kishwar Desai | Westland Publications |
| 2021 (69th) | Music by Laxmikant Pyarelal: The Incredibly Melodious Journey | English | Rajiv Vijayakar | Rupa Publications |
| 2022 (70th) | Kishore Kumar: The Ultimate Biography | English | • Anirudha Bhattacharjee • Parthiv Dhar | HarperCollins India |