National Film Awards 2026 winners: 'Article 370', Kartik Aaryan, and Mammootty lead the honours

Every year, the National Film Awards offer a snapshot of the films and performances that have shaped Indian cinema—and this year is no different. The winners of the 72nd National Film Awards were announced on Saturday in New Delhi, celebrating the best of Indian cinema from films certified in 2024. This year's honours reflected the diversity of Indian filmmaking, with winners spanning Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and several regional film industries.

Leading the awards was Article 370, which won Best Feature Film, while Yami Gautam took home the Best Actress honour for her performance in the political thriller. Kartik Aaryan and Mammootty shared the Best Actor award for Chandu Champion and Bramayugam respectively, making it one of the biggest talking points of this year's ceremony.

Rajkumar Periasamy won Best Director for Amaran, which also picked up several technical honours. Kalki 2898 AD, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, and Prabhas, was named Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, while actor-filmmaker Randeep Hooda won Best Debut Film of a Director for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar. Pushpa 2: The Rule, Captain Miller, and Maharaja were among the other major winners.

Rajkumar Periasamy won Best Director for Amaran, which also picked up several technical awards. Kalki 2898 AD, which starred Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, and Prabhas was named Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. Actor-filmmaker Randeep Hooda won the Best Debut Film of a Director award for his film Swatantrya Veer Savarkar. Pushpa 2: The Rule, Captain Miller, and Maharaja were among the other major winners.

Here's the complete list of the major winners at the 72nd National Film Awards.

Best Feature Film: Article 370

Best Actor: Kartik Aaryan (Chandu Champion) and Mammootty (Bramayugam)

Best Actress: Yami Gautam (Article 370)

Best Director: Rajkumar Periasamy (Amaran)

Best Supporting Actor: Sanjay Mishra (Bhakshak)

Best Supporting Actress: Ropashree Varkady (Mithya) and Sachana Namidass (Maharaja)

Best Feature Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Kalki 2898 AD

Best Film Promoting National, Social and Environmental Values: Captain Miller

Best Debut Film of a Director: Swatantrya Veer Savarkar

Best Children's Film: 35 Chinna Katha Kaadu

Best Child Artist: Riddhiman Banerjee, Tapomoy Deb, Gitashree Chakraborty, Arundev Pothula, and Athish S Shetty

Best Cinematography: Shehnad Jalal (Bramayugam)

Best Original Screenplay: Sukumar (Pushpa 2: The Rule)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Yogesh Deshpande (Swargandharva Sudhir Phadke)

Best Dialogue Writer: Venky Atluri (Lucky Baskhar)

Best Production Design: Nitin Zihani Choudhary (Kalki 2898 AD)

Best Action Choreography: King Solomon (Kill)

Best Make-up Artist: P Ravi Kumar (Aadujeevitham: The Goat Life)

Best Costume Design: Deepali Noor and Sheetal Sharma (The Sabarmati Report)

Best Music Direction (Songs): Shashwat Sachdev (Article 370)

Best Music Direction (Background Score): GV Prakash Kumar (Amaran)

Best Lyrics: Manoj Muntashir (Jaane Do from Maidaan)

Best Male Playback Singer: Abhay Jodhpurkar

Best Female Playback Singer: Vaikom Vijayalakshmi (Ajayante Randam Moshanam)

Best Sound Design: Manas Chaudhary (Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3)

Best Editing: R Kalaivanan (Amaran)

Best Assamese Film: Boomba Ride

Best Bengali Film: Padatik

Best Gujarati Film: Kaashi Raaghav

Best Hindi Film: Srikanth

Best Kannada Film: Bheema

Best Konkani Film: Mog Asum

Best Malayalam Film: Ullozhukku

Best Marathi Film: Gharat Ganpati

Best Odia Film: Pushkara

Best Punjabi Film: Godday Godday Chaa

Best Tamil Film: Raayan

Best Telugu Film: Lucky Baskhar

Best Tulu Film: Imbu

Best Garo Film: Rimdogittanga

Best Tai Phake Film: Pai Tang: The Unspoken

Special Mention: Dhanush (Captain Miller) and Suren G (Meiyazhagan) 

Lead image: IMDb

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