Southern Craftsmanship Meets Real-Life Biopics: Key Takeaways from the 72nd National Film Awards

The 72nd National Film Awards celebrated the finest achievements in Indian cinema, honoring certified cinematic works from across the country. The political action-thriller Article 370 emerged as one of the ceremony’s biggest triumphs, bagging Best Feature Film along with a Best Actress win for Yami Gautam. The Best Actor in a Leading Role honor was jointly awarded to Kartik Aaryan for his transformative portrayal of Paralympic champion Murlikant Petkar in Chandu Champion, and Malayalam cinema veteran Mammootty for his haunting performance in the period folk-horror Bramayugam. Meanwhile, the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award was conferred upon veteran actor Anant Nag for his monumental, decades-long contribution to Indian cinema.

From Chandu Champion to Srikanth and Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, biographical portrayals swept high honors. Southern Storytelling Strength: Malayalam and Tamil cinema remained strongly represented across technical and directing categories, highlighted by Rajkumar Periasamy’s direction of Amaran and the eerie craft of Bramayugam. Blockbusters with Scale: Nag Ashwin’s sci-fi epic Kalki 2898 AD secured the award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, alongside wins for production design.

Major & Feature Film Honors: - Dadasaheb Phalke Award: Anant Nag (Lifetime Contribution) Best Feature Film: Article 370 (Hindi) – Directed by Aditya Suhas Jambhale Best Direction: Rajkumar Periasamy for Amaran (Tamil) Best Actor in a Leading Role: Kartik Aaryan for Chandu Champion (Hindi) and Mammootty for Bramayugam (Malayalam) Best Actress in a Leading Role: Yami Gautam for Article 370 (Hindi) Best Supporting Actor: Sanjay Mishra for Bhakshak (Hindi) Best Supporting Actress: Ropashree Varkady for Mithya (Kannada) and Sachana Namidass for Maharaja (Tamil) Best Debut Film of a Director: Randeep Hooda for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar (Hindi) Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Kalki 2898 AD (Telugu) – Directed by Nag Ashwin Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social and Environmental Values: Captain Miller (Tamil) – Directed by Arun Matheswaran

Music & Writing Honors - Best Screenplay: Sukumar (Pushpa 2: The Rule) and Yogesh Deshpande (Swargandharva Sudhir Phadke) - Best Dialogue: Venky Atluri (Lucky Baskhar) - Best Music Direction (Songs): Shashwat Sachdev for Article 370 - Best Music Direction (Background Score): GV Prakash Kumar for Amaran - Best Lyrics: Manoj Muntashir for Maidaan - Best Male Playback Singer: Abhay Jodhpurkar for "Navasachi Gauri Mazi" (Gharat Ganpati) Best Female Playback Singer: Vaikom Vijayalakshmi for "Angu Vaana Konilu" (ARM)

Technical & Craft Honors - Best Cinematography: Shehnad Jalaal for Bramayugam Best Editing: R. Kalaivannan for Amaran Best Production Design: Nitin Zihani Choudhary for Kalki 2898 AD - Best Action Direction (Stunts): Anl Arasu for Maharaja - Best Choreography: Vijay Ganguly for Stree 2 - Best Costume Design: Deepali Noor and Sheetal Sharma for Pushpa 2: The Rule - Best Sound Design: Manas Choudhary for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 - Best Make-up Artist: P. Ravi Kumar for Committee Kurrollu

Best Feature Film by Language - Best Hindi Film: Srikanth - Best Tamil Film: Raayan - Best Telugu Film: Committee Kurrollu - Best Malayalam Film: Feminichi Fathima - Best Kannada Film: Mithya - Best Marathi Film: Mukkam Post Bombilwadi - Best Bengali Film: Chaalchitra Ekhon - Best Gujarati Film: Maaran - Best Assamese Film: Juiphool - Best Odia Film: Lahari

Non-Feature & Literature Honors - Best Non-Feature Film: Bhangaar (Obsolete) - Best Documentary Film: Ram-Nami (Directed by Bharatbala Ganapathy) - Best Non-Feature Direction: Aanand L. Rai for Statue of Unity: Ekta Ka Prateek - Best Film Critic: Sanjeev Shrivastava - Best Book on Cinema: Naaniruvude Nimagaagi Naadiruvude Nanagaagi by Kenchanuru Pradeep Kumar Shetty

By honoring both pan-Indian blockbusters and quietly transformative regional gems, the 72nd National Film Awards reaffirmed the depth and evolving maturity of contemporary Indian storytelling. From hard-hitting biographical triumphs and haunting genre experiments to grand cinematic spectacles, this year’s roster of winners highlights an industry driven by uncompromising conviction. As veteran icons receive long-overdue flowers and fresh directorial voices make their mark, the ceremony stands not just as a celebration of technical and narrative excellence, but as an inspiring blueprint for where Indian cinema is headed next.