# 18th National Film Awards

The 18th National Film Awards were held in Chennai, India in November 1971 by the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for Indian films released in 1970. The awards were presented by then President of India, V. V. Giri.

## Juries

The award winners were chosen by four juries, one each for the Bombay, Calcutta and Madras regions and a central jury for all India. For the 18th National Film Awards the central jury was headed by Justice G. D. Khosla.
* Jury Members: Central
** G. D. Khosla (Chair) • Shiela Vats • Teji Bachchan • V. K. Narayana Menon • Ashis Burman • Ali Sardar Jafri • Ammu Swaminathan • Din Dayal • Nasir Hussain • U. Visweswar Rao • Subodh Mitra
* Regional Jury: Bombay
** Vijay Tendulkar (Chair) • Firoze Rangoonwalla • Bikram Singh • K. K. Hebbar • Irene Heredia • Ismat Chughtai • L. G. Jog • Gopinath Talwalkar • Devendra Goel • Shatrujit Paul • Bhappi Sonie
* Regional Jury: Calcutta
** Amala Shankar (Chair) • Amina Kar • Anant Mahapatra • A. K. Pramanick • Tarun Roy • Pankaj Mullick • Rajendra Nath Barua • Shibatosh Mukerjee • Narayan Chakraborty • Dilip Sarkar • Nirmal Chowdhury
* Regional Jury: Madras
** C. R. Pattabhiraman (Chair) • K. Venkataswamy Naidu • P. P. Naidu • Mallikarjuna Rao • Shakuntala Hegde • D. Ramanaidu • Vijayalakshmi • V. C. Subburaman • Kambisseri Karunakaran • C. N. Ramanujam • T. S. Muthuswamy • K. Kottarakkara

## Awards

Awards were given to feature films and non-feature films.
The top national award in each category was the President's Gold Medal and, at the regional level, the President's Silver Medal.

### Lifetime Achievement Award

| Award | Image | Awardee(s) | Awarded As | Cash Prize |
| Dadasaheb Phalke Award | | B. N. Sircar | Producer | ₹11,000, a shawl and a plaque |

### Feature films

The Kannada film Samskara won the President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film. Three award each went to the Hindi films, Dastak and Mera Naam Joker, and to the Bengali film Pratidwandi.

#### All India Award

Award recipients:
| Award | Film | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
| Best Feature Film | Samskara | Kannada | Producer: T. Pattabhirami Reddy | Gold Medal and ₹40,000 |
| Best Feature Film | Samskara | Kannada | Director: T. Pattabhirami Reddy | Gold Medal and ₹40,000 |
| Second Best Feature Film | Pratidwandi | Bengali | Producer: Nepal Dutta | ₹15,000 and a medal |
| Second Best Feature Film | Pratidwandi | Bengali | Producer: Asim Dutta | ₹15,000 and a medal |
| Second Best Feature Film | Pratidwandi | Bengali | Director: Satyajit Ray | ₹5,000 and a plaque |
| Best Feature Film on National Integration | Thurakkatha Vaathil | Malayalam | Producer: A. Raghunath | ₹30,000 and a medal |
| Best Feature Film on National Integration | Thurakkatha Vaathil | Malayalam | Director: P. Bhaskaran | ₹10,000 and a plaque |
| Best Actor (Bharat Award) | Dastak | Hindi | Sanjeev Kumar | A figurine |
| Best Actress (Urvashi Award) | Dastak | Hindi | Rehana Sultan | A figurine |
| Best Child Artist | Mera Naam Joker | Hindi | Rishi Kapoor | A plaque |
| Best Direction | Pratidwandi | Bengali | Satyajit Ray | ₹ 5,000 and a plaque |
| Best Music Direction | Dastak | Hindi | Madan Mohan | ₹ 5,000 and a plaque |
| Best Male Playback Singer | Nishi Padma (For the song "Ja Khushi Ora Bole") | Bengali | Manna Dey | A plaque |
| Best Male Playback Singer | Mera Naam Joker (For the song "Ae Bhai Zara Dekh Ke Chalo") | Hindi | Manna Dey | A plaque |
| Best Female Playback Singer | Nishi Padma (For the song "Ore Sakol Sona Molin Holo") | Bengali | Sandhya Mukherjee | A plaque |
| Best Female Playback Singer | Jay Jayanti (For the song "Amader Chhuti Chhuti") | Bengali | Sandhya Mukherjee | A plaque |
| Best Screenplay | Pratidwandi | Bengali | Satyajit Ray | ₹5,000 and a plaque |
| Best Cinematography (Black and White) | Uski Roti | Hindi | K. K. Mahajan | ₹5,000 and a plaque |
| Best Cinematography (Color) | Mera Naam Joker | Hindi | Radhu Karmakar | ₹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 Assamese, English, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Oriya and Punjabi language, the resident'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 Bengali | Malyadan | Ajoy Kar | Ajoy Kar |
| Best Feature Film in Bengali | Malyadan | Bimal Dey | Ajoy Kar |
| Best Feature Film in Hindi | Anand | Hrishikesh Mukherjee | Hrishikesh Mukherjee |
| Best Feature Film in Hindi | Anand | N. C. Sippy | Hrishikesh Mukherjee |
| Best Feature Film in Kannada | Naguva Hoovu | R. N. Sudarshan | R. N. K. Prasad |
| Best Feature Film in Malayalam | Ezhuthatha Katha | Jai Maruthy Pictures | A. B. Raj |
| Best Feature Film in Marathi | Mumbaicha Jawai | Tushar Pradhan | Raja Thakur |
| Best Feature Film in Tamil | Raman Ethanai Ramanadi | P. Madhavan | P. Madhavan |
| Best Feature Film in Telugu | Desamante Manushuloyi | K. M. K. Naidu | C. S. Rao |
| Best Feature Film in Telugu | Desamante Manushuloyi | G. K. Naidu | C. S. Rao |

### Non-Feature films

The award recipients were:

#### Short films

| Name of Award | Name of Film | Language | Awardee(s) | Awards |
| Best Film on Social Documentation | Latest | English | Producer: M/s. Film-O-Pub | ₹5,000 and a medal |
| Best Film on Social Documentation | Latest | English | Director: Biplab Ray Chaudhari | ₹2,000 and a plaque |

### Awards not given

The following awards not given:
* Best Story Writer
* Best Film on Family Welfare
* Best Children's Film
* Lyric Writer of the Best Film Song on National Integration
* Best Information Film (Documentary)
* Best Educational / Instructional Film
* Best Promotional Film
* Best Experimental Film
* Best Animation Film
* President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Assamese
* 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