# 20th National Film Awards

The 20th National Film Awards, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1972.
With this year, new award category is introduced for the feature films made in Meitei language. This newly introduced category includes President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Manipuri.

## Juries

Six different committees were formed based on the film making sectors in India, mainly based in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras along with the central committee for all India level. For 20th National Film Awards, central committee was headed by Romesh Thapar.
* Jury Members: Central
** Romesh Thapar (Chairperson) • Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai • Rita Ray • Sheila Vats • Usha Bhagat • Girish Karnad (Not Attended) • M. Yunus Dehlvi • Teji Bachchan • Phanishwar Nath 'Renu' • Shanta Gandhi • U. Visweswar Rao • I. S. Johar (Not Attended) • Ardhendu Mukerjee
* Jury Members: Short Films
** S. K. Kooka (Chairperson) • B. D. Garga • Prasanta Sanyal • Gerson Da Cunha • Aruna Vasudeva • Bishamber Khanna • Revati Saran Sharma • Din Dayal
* Jury Regional: Bombay
** Ali Sardar Jafri (Chairperson) • Mrinalini Sarabhai • Charles Correa • Bikram Singh • Bhupendra Shah • Gopinath Talwalkar • D. G. Nadkarni • Kumud Mehta • Adi Marzban • P. K. Ravindranath • B. K. Adarsh • Atma Ram • G. P. Shirke • Kamleshwar
* Jury Regional: Calcutta
** Sombhu Mitra (Chairperson) • Amina Kar • Suchitra Mitra • Sanat Lahiri • N. K. Ghosh • Bhaben Barua • Ramesh Chandra Dhall • Ananda Shankar • Badal Sarkar • B. N. Sircar
* Jury Regional: Calcutta - Nominated
** Parimal Sarkar • Kanan Devi • Subodh Mitra • Elangbam Nilakanta Singh • Maharaj Kumari Binodini Devi
* Jury Regional: Madras
** Malcolm Adiseshiah (Chairperson) • B. N. Reddy • A. L. Velliappa • Mahmooda Haja Shareef • S. Ananthamurthy • Thoppil Ravi • V. C. Subburaman • P. S. Ramakrishna Rao • K. P. Kottarakkara • Rajammal Anantharaman • P. C. Mathew

## Awards

Awards were divided into feature films and non-feature films.
President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film is now better known as National Film Award for Best Feature Film, whereas President's Gold Medal for the Best Documentary Film is analogous to today's National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film. For children's films, Prime Minister's Gold Medal is now given as National Film Award for Best Children's Film. At the regional level, President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film is now given as National Film Award for Best Feature Film in a particular language. Certificate of Merit in all the categories is discontinued over the years.

### Lifetime Achievement Award

| Name of Award | Image | Awardee(s) | Awarded As | Awards |
| Dadasaheb Phalke Award | | Pankaj Mullick | Music Director | ₹11,000, a shawl and a plaque |

### Feature films

Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For 20th National Film Awards, a Malayalam film Swayamvaram won the President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film along with winning the maximum number of awards (four). Following were the awards given in each category:

#### All India Award

Following were the awards given:
| Award | Film | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
| Best Feature Film | Swayamvaram | Malayalam | Producer: Kulathoor Bhaskaran Nair | Gold Medal and ₹40,000 |
| Best Feature Film | Swayamvaram | Malayalam | Director: Adoor Gopalakrishnan | ₹10,000 and a plaque |
| Second Best Feature Film | Calcutta 71 | Bengali | Producer: D. S. Sultania | ₹15,000 and a medal |
| Second Best Feature Film | Calcutta 71 | Bengali | Director: Mrinal Sen | ₹5,000 and a plaque |
| Best Feature Film on National Integration | Achanum Bappayum | Malayalam | Producer: C. C. Baby | ₹30,000 and a medal |
| Best Feature Film on National Integration | Achanum Bappayum | Malayalam | Director: K. S. Sethumadhavan | ₹10,000 and a plaque |
| Best Direction | Swayamvaram | Malayalam | Adoor Gopalakrishnan | ₹ 5,000 and a plaque |
| Best Cinematography (Black and White) | Swayamvaram | Malayalam | Mankada Ravi Varma | ₹5,000 and a plaque |
| Best Cinematography (Color) | Maya Darpan | Hindi | K. K. Mahajan | ₹5,000 and a plaque |
| Best Screenplay | Koshish | Hindi | Gulzar | ₹ 5,000 and a plaque |
| Best Actor (Bharat Award) | Koshish | Hindi | Sanjeev Kumar | A figurine |
| Best Actress (Urvashi Award) | Swayamvaram | Malayalam | Sharada | A figurine |
| Best Child Artist | Ranur Pratham Bhag | Bengali | Neera Mallya | A plaque |
| Best Female Playback Singer | Parichay (For the song "Beeti Naa Bitaai Raina") | Hindi | Lata Mangeshkar | A plaque |
| Best Male Playback Singer | Achanum Bappayum | Malayalam | K. J. Yesudas | A plaque |
| Best Music Direction | Zindagi Zindagi | Hindi | Sachin Dev Burman | ₹ 5,000 and a plaque |
| Lyric Writer of the Best Film Song on National Integration | Achanum Bappayum | Malayalam | Vayalar Ramavarma | ₹ 5,000 and a plaque |

#### Regional Award

The awards were given to the best films made in the regional languages of India. For feature films in English, Kashmiri, Oriya and Punjabi language, President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film was not given. The producer and director of the film were awarded with ₹5,000 and a Silver medal, respectively.
| Award | Film | Awardee(s) | Awardee(s) |
| Award | Film | Producer | Director |
| Best Feature Film in Assamese | Upaja Sonar Maati | M/s Pragati Cine Productions | Brajen Barua |
| Best Feature Film in Bengali | Strir Patra | Dhrupadi | Purnendu Patri |
| Best Feature Film in Gujarati | Gun Sundarino Ghar Sansar | Ramesh H. Saraiya | Govind Saraiya |
| Best Feature Film in Gujarati | Gun Sundarino Ghar Sansar | Jayant Malaviya | Govind Saraiya |
| Best Feature Film in Gujarati | Gun Sundarino Ghar Sansar | Chandulal Gandhi | Govind Saraiya |
| Best Feature Film in Hindi | Maya Darpan | Kumar Shahani | Kumar Shahani |
| Best Feature Film in Kannada | Sharapanjara | C. S. Rajah | Puttanna Kanagal |
| Best Feature Film in Malayalam | Panitheeratha Veedu | K. S. R. Moorthy | K. S. Sethumadhavan |
| Best Feature Film in Manipuri | Matamgi Manipur | Karam Monomohan Singh | Deb Kumar Bose |
| Best Feature Film in Marathi | Pinjra | V. Shantaram | V. Shantaram |
| Best Feature Film in Tamil | Pattikada Pattanama | P. Madhavan | P. Madhavan |
| Best Feature Film in Telugu | Pandanti Kapuram | G. Hanumantha Rao | Lakshmi Deepak |

### Non-Feature films

Following were the awards given:

#### Short films

| Name of Award | Name of Film | Language | Awardee(s) | Awards |
| Best Information Film (Documentary) | The Inner Eye | English | Producer: Satyajit Ray | ₹5,000 and a medal |
| Best Information Film (Documentary) | The Inner Eye | English | Director: Satyajit Ray | ₹5,000 and a medal |
| Best Film on Social Documentation | Transcedence | English | Producer: Pramod Patil for Films Division | ₹5,000 |
| Best Film on Social Documentation | Transcedence | English | Director: K. Vishwanath for Films Division | ₹2,000 |
| Best Promotional Film (Commercial) | Destination India | English | Producer: Cinerad Communications | Silver Medal |
| Best Promotional Film (Commercial) | Destination India | English | Director: Zafar Hai | A plaque |
| Best Animation Film | You Said It | English | Producer: Prasad Productions | ₹5,000 |
| Best Animation Film | You Said It | English | Director: Ram Mohan | ₹2,000 |

### Awards not given

Following were the awards not given as no film was found to be suitable for the award:
* Best Story Writer
* Best Film on Family Welfare
* Best Children's Film
* Best Educational / Instructional Film
* Best Experimental Film
* Best Promotional Film (Non-Commercial)
* President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in English
* President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Oriya
* President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Punjabi