69th National Film Awards

The69th National Film Awardsceremony was an event during which theNational Film Development Corporation of Indiapresented its annualNational Film Awardsto honour the best films of 2021 inIndian cinema. The awards ceremony was originally slated to be held on 3 May 2022 but was postponed due to delays after theCOVID-19 pandemic.The winners were announced on 24 August 2023, by theMinistry of Information and Broadcastingin a press conference.The winners along with theDadasaheb Phalke Awardrecipient were felicitated by thePresident,Droupadi Murmuon 17 October 2023 at theVigyan Bhawan,New Delhi.
TheNational Film Development Corporation of Indiainvited online entries on 31 March 2023 with the acceptable last date for entries until 10 May 2023. Feature and Non-Feature Films certified by theCentral Board of Film Certificationbetween 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 on16 mm,35 mm, a wider film gauge or adigital 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.
Introduced in 1969, theDadasaheb Phalke Awardis 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 isWaheeda 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:
Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
NationalFilm 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 theEighth scheduleof theConstitution 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.
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.
Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the Awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)' and cash prize.