69th National Film Awards 2023: Complete Winners List; Rocketry, Alia Bhatt, Kriti Sanon, and Allu Arjun Emerge as Big Winners in Diverse Categories

The 69th National Film Awards for 2023 have been disclosed at the National Media Centre in New Delhi. Although the official awards ceremony is pending, it will honour outstanding contributions to Indian cinema in 2021. Films, both feature and non-feature, certified by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021, were eligible for consideration.

Here is the comprehensive list of winners across various categories at the 69th National Film Awards:

Major Film Awards:

• Best Feature Film: “Rocketry”
• Best Director: Nikhil Mahajan for “Godavari”
• Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: “RRR”
• Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration: “The Kashmir Files”
• Best Actor: Allu Arjun for “Pushpa”
• Best Actress: Alia Bhatt for “Gangubai Kathiawadi” and Kriti Sanon for “Mimi”
• Best Supporting Actor: Pankaj Tripathi for “Mimi”
• Best Supporting Actress: Pallavi Joshi for “The Kashmir Files”
• Best Child Artist: Bhavin Rabari for “Chhello Show”

Music and Sound Awards:

• Best Music Director (Songs): Devi Sri Prasad for “Pushpa”
• Best Music Direction (Background Music): MM Keeravaani for “RRR”
• Best Male Playback Singer: Kaala Bhairava for “RRR”
• Best Female Playback Singer: Shreya Ghoshal for “Iravin Nizhal”
• Best Lyrics: Chandrabose for “Konda Polam’s Dham Dham Dham”

Regional Excellence:

• Best Hindi Film: “Sardar Udham”
• Best Kannada Film: “777 Charlie”
• Best Malayalam Film: “Home”
• Best Gujarati Film: “Chhello Show”
• Best Tamil Film: “Kadaisi Vivasayi”
• Best Telugu Film: “Uppena”
• Best Maithili Film: “Samanantar”
• Best Mishing Film: “Boomba Ride”
• Best Marathi Film: “Ekda Kaay Zala”
• Best Bengali Film: “Kalkokkho”
• Best Assamese Film: “Anur”
• Best Meiteilon Film: “Eikhoigi Yum”
• Best Odiya Film: “Pratikshya”

Debut Filmmakers:

• Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director: “Meppadiyan” by Vishnu Mohan

Socially Relevant Films:

• Best Film on Social Issues: “Anunaad – The Resonance”
• Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation: “Aavasavyuham”
• Best Children’s Film: “Gandhi and Co”

Audiography:

• Best Audiography (Location Sound Recordist): Arun Asok & Sonu K P for “Chavittu”
• Best Audiography (Sound Designer): Aneesh Basu for “Jhilli”
• Best Audiography (Re-recordist of the final mixed track): Sinoy Joseph for “Sardar Udham”

Technical Excellence:

• Best Choreography: Prem Rakshith for “RRR”
• Best Cinematography: Avik Mukhopadhayay for “Sardar Udham”
• Best Costume Designer: Veera Kapur Ee for “Sardar Udham”
• Best Special Effects: Srinivas Mohan for “RRR”
• Best Production Design: Dmitrii Malich and Mansi Dhruv Mehta for “Sardar Udham”
• Best Editing: Sanjay Leela Bhansali for “Gangubai Kathiawadi”
• Best Make-up: Preetisheel Singh for “Gangubai Kathiawadi”
• Best Stunt Choreography: King Soloman for “RRR”

Special Awards:

• Special Jury Award: “Shershaah” by Vishnuvardhan
• Special Mention:
  1. Late Shri Nallandi for “Kadaisi Vivasayi”
  2. Aranya Gupta & Bithan Biswas for “Jhilli”
  3. Indrans for “Home”
  4. Jahanara Begum for “Anur”

Non-Feature Film Awards:

• Best Non-feature film: “Ek Tha Gaon”
• Best Direction (Non-feature film): Bakul Matiyani for “Smile Please”
• Best Debut Non-Feature Film of a Director: “Paanchika” by Ankit Kothari
• Best Anthropological Film: “Fire on Edge”
• Best Biographical Film: “Rukhu Matir Dukhu Majhi” and “Beyond Blast”
• Best Arts Films: “T.N. Krishnan Bow Strings to Divine”
• Best Science & Technology Films: “Ethos of Darkness”
• Best Promotional Film: “Endangered Heritage ‘Warli Art’”
• Best Environment Film (Non-feature film): “Munnam Valavu”
• Best Film on Social Issues (Non-feature film): “Mithu Di” and “Three Two One”
• Best Investigative Film: “Looking For Challan”
• Best Exploration Film: “Ayushman”
• Best Educational Film: “Sirpigalin Sirpangal”
• Best Short Fiction Film: “Dal Bhat”
• Best Animation Film: “Kandittundu”
• Best Film on Family Values: “Chand Saanse”

And other non-feature film category winners in various fields like cinematography, audiography, editing, music direction, narration, and more.

Special Mention (Non-feature film):

1. Aniruddha Jatkar for “Baale Bangara”
2. Srikanth Deva for “Karuvarai”
3. Sweta Kumar Das for “The Healing Touch”
4. Ram Kamal Mukherjee for “Ek Duaa”

Special Jury Award (Non-feature film): Shekhar Bapu Rankhambe for “Rekha”

Literary and Critic Awards:

• Best Book on Cinema: “Music by Laxmikant Pyarelal: The Incredibly Melodious Journey” by Rajiv Vijayakar
• Best Film Critic: Purushothama Charyulu
• Best Film Critic (Special Mention): Subramanya Bandoor

The award ceremonies have been postponed by two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 68th National Film Awards, held in 2022, honoured the best Indian films released in the calendar year 2020. The Tamil film “Soorarai Pottru” won the Best Feature Film award. Late filmmaker Sachy received the Best Director honor for “Ayyappanum Koshiyum,” while Ajay Devgn and Suriya shared the Best Actor award. Aparna Balamurali received the Best Actress award.

The 67th National Film Awards celebrated the best Indian films of 2019 but were held in the year 2021. “Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea” won the top honour that year. Established in 1954, the National Film Awards are overseen by the Directorate of Film Festivals. The event also highlights the best films across regional languages and presents industry legends with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for lifetime achievement. Last year’s recipient was superstar Rajinikanth.