The Winners of the 71st National Film Awards

The winners of the 71st National Film Awards were announced on August 1, 2025, with the ceremony honouring the best films of 2023.

Films that were either released or certified in 2023 were eligible for the prizes.

This ceremony recognised not only Bollywood films, but also, through various categories, movies from different Indian languages were awarded as well. 

Among Bollywood, Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail won big, scooping the award for ‘Best Feature Film’.

Karan Johar’s mega-blockbuster, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, took home the award for ‘Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment’. 

In the Silver Lotus Award sub-category, Vikrant Massey also won ‘Best Actor in a Leading Role’ for his performance in 12th Fail.

Vikrant shared the award with Shah Rukh Khan, who was awarded the prize for his role in Jawan.

This marked SRK’s first victory for his acting in the National Film Awards.

Thanking his fans on X, SRK said: “To be honoured with the National Film Award is a moment that I will cherish for a lifetime.

“I promise to use this recognition not as a finish line, but as fuel to continue striving, learning, and giving back.

“I’m very grateful for everyone’s love and to the Indian government for this honour.”

The actor was also seen sporting a broken arm, which was from an injury he sustained on the sets of his upcoming film King. 

Meanwhile, Rani Mukerji won ‘Best Actress in a Leading Role’ for her captivating performance in Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway.

Reacting to her first-ever National Film Award, Rani enthused:

“I’m overwhelmed to have won the National Award for my performance in Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway.

“Incidentally, this is the first-ever National Award in my 30-year career.

“I thank the National Award jury for honouring my work.”

“I share this moment with the entire team of the film – my producers Nikkhil Advani, Monisha and Madhu, my director Ashima Chibber, and everyone who worked on this truly special project that celebrated the resilience of motherhood.”

Over in the Regional Awards section of the ceremony, many movies were awarded the ‘Best Feature Film’ in their respective languages.

These included Vash (Gujarati), Kandeelu (Kannada), and Ullozhukku (Malayalam).

In the Golden Lotus Awards section, Naal 2 was a Marathi film that won ‘Best Children’s Film’.

For the film, Treesha Thosar, Shrinivas Pokale, and Bhargav Jagtap all shared the accolade for ‘Best Child Artist’, along with Kabir Khandare for the Marathi movie, Gypsy.

Returning to the Silver Lotus Award section of the National Film Awards, the award for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ was shared between Vijayaraghavan and MS Bhaskar. 

The actors had amazed viewers in Pookkaalam (Malayalam) and Parking (Tamil) respectively.

MS Bhaskar reflected: “I thank director Ramkumar Balakrishnan and the producers for giving me an opportunity on this film.”

Here is the full list of winners:

Best Feature Film
12th Fail – Vidhu Vinod Chopra

Best Director
Vidhu Vinod Chopra – 12th Fail

Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male)
Shah Rukh Khan – Jawan
Vikrant Massey – 12th Fail

Best Actress in a Leading Role (Female)
Rani Mukerji – Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male)
Vijayaraghavan – Pookkaalam
M. S. Bhaskar – Parking

Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Female)
Urvashi – Ullozhukku

Best Child Artist
Sukriti Veni Bandreddi – Gandhi Tatha Chettu
Kabir Khandare – Gypsy
Treesha Thosar – Naal 2
Shrinivas Pokale – Naal 2
Bhargav Jagtap – Naal 2

Best Debut Film of a Director
Ashish Avinash Bende – Aatmapamphlet (Marathi)

Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment
Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani – Karan Johar

Best Cinematography
Prasantanu Mohapatra – The Kerala Story

Best Screenplay (Original)
Sai Rajesh – Baby
Ramkumar Balakrishnan – Parking

Best Screenplay (Dialogues)
Deepak Kingrani – Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai

Best Sound Design
Sachin Sudhakaran – Animal
Hariharan Muralidharan – Animal

Best Editing
Midhun Murali – Pookkaalam

Best Production Design
Mohandas – 2018

Best Costume Design
Sachin Lovalekar & Divvya Gambhir & Nidhhi Gambhir – Sam Bahadur

Best Make-up
Shrikant Desai – Sam Bahadur

Best Music Direction (Songs)
G. V. Prakash Kumar – Vaathi (Tamil)

Best Music Direction (Background Music)
Harshavardhan Rameshwar – Animal

Best Lyrics
Kasarla Shyam – Balagam (Song: “Ooru Palletooru”)

Best Choreography
Vaibhavi Merchant – Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (Song: “Dhindhora Baje Re”)

Best Stunt Choreography
Nandu Prudhvi – Hanu-Man

Best Feature Film in AVGC (Best Visual Effects)
Hanu-Man – Jetty Venkat Kumar (VFX Supervisor)

Regional Awards

Best Assamese Feature Film
Rongatapu 1982 – Adityam Saikia (Director)
BRC Cine Production (Producer)

Best Bengali Feature Film
Deep Fridge – Arjunn Dutta (Director)
Colors of Dream Entertainment (Producer)

Best Gujarati Feature Film
Vash – Krishnadev Yagnik (Director)
Big Box Series Production & KS Entertainment (Producer)

Best Hindi Feature Film
Kathal – Yashowardhan Mishra (Director)
Netflix Entertainment Services, Balaji Motion Pictures, Sikhya Entertainment (Producer)

Best Kannada Feature Film
Kandeelu – Yeshoda Prakash Kottukathira (Director)
Swastik Entertainment (Producer)

Best Malayalam Feature Film
Ullozhukku – Christo Tomy (Director)
Unnilazer Ventures Pvt Ltd & MacGuffin Pictures (Producer)

Best Marathi Feature Film
Shyamchi Aai – Sujay Dahake (Director)
Amruta Films (Producer)

Best Odia Feature Film
Pushkara – Subhransu Das (Director)
Tarang Cine Productions (Producer)

Best Punjabi Feature Film
Godday Godday Chaa – Vijay Kumar Arora (Director)
VH Entertainment & Zee Studios (Producer)

Best Tamil Feature Film
Parking – Ramkumar Balakrishnan (Director)
Passion Studios & Soldiers Factory (Producer)

Best Telugu Feature Film
Bhagavanth Kesari – Anil Ravipudi (Director)
Shine Screens (Producer)

Best Feature Film in Languages Other Than Those Specified in the Schedule VIII of the Constitution

Best Garo Feature Film
Rimdogittanga – Dominic Sangma (Director)
Anna Films, Uncombed Buddha, Joicy Studio (Producer)

Best Tai Phake Feature Film
Pai Tang – Naba Kumar Bhuyan (Director)
Prabal Khaund (Producer)

Non-Feature Film Awards

Best Non-Feature Film
Flowering Man – Soumyajit Ghosh Dastidar (Director)
Film and Television Institute of India (Producer)

Best Direction
The First Film – Piyush Thakur

Best Debut Film of a Director
Mau: The Spirit Dreams of Cheraw – Shilpika Bordoloi

Best Biographical / Historical Reconstruction / Compilation Film
Mo Bou, Mo Gaan – Subash Sahoo (Director)
Kicksy Wicksy Films & RNV 1820 Films (Producer)
Lentina Ao – A Light on the Eastern Horizon – Sanjib Parasar (Director)
NFDC (Producer)

Best Arts / Cultural Film
Timeless Tamil Nadu – Kamakhya Narayan Singh (Director)
Celebrities Management Private Limited (Producer)

Best Documentary
God Vulture and Human – Rishiraj Agarwal (Director)
Studio Lichi & Dr. Rajesh Chandwani (Producer)

Best Non-Feature Film Promoting Social and Environmental Values
The Silent Epidemic – Akshat Gupta (Director)
Cinema4good Pvt Ltd & Raahgiri Foundation (Producer)

Best Short Film
Giddh (The Scavenger) – Manish Saini (Director)
Ellanar Films (Producer)

Best Cinematography
Saravanamaruthu Soundarapandi & Meenakshi Soman – Little Wings

Best Sound Design
Shubharun Sengupta – Dhundhgiri Ke Phool

Best Editing
Niladri Roy – Moving Focus

Best Music Direction
Pranil Desai – The First Film

Best Narration / Voice Over
Harikrishnan S – The Sacred – Jack Exploring the Tree of Wishes

Best Script
Chidananda S. Naik – Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know

The 71st National Film Awards was certainly a joyous occasion, with many deserving recipients being highlighted for their work.

Congratulations to all the winners!