Article 370 Leads 72nd National Film Awards 2026 Winners
The 72nd National Film Awards 2026 full winners list was announced in New Delhi on Saturday, July 18, 2026. The awards recognised feature films, non-feature productions, and cinema writing certified during the 2024 calendar year.
Article 370 secured the prestigious Best Feature Film award, while Mammootty and Kartik Aaryan shared the Best Actor in a Leading Role honour. Yami Gautam received Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in Article 370.
72nd National Film Awards 2026 Full Winners List: Top Honours
Mammootty won for his performance in the Malayalam film Bramayugam, while Kartik Aaryan was recognised for portraying Paralympic champion Murlikant Petkar in Chandu Champion. Yami Gautam earned her first National Film Award for Article 370.
Rajkumar Periasamy won Best Direction for the Tamil film Amaran. Randeep Hooda received the Best Debut Film of a Director award for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar. Kalki 2898 AD was named Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.
Major feature-film winners
- Best Feature Film: Article 370
- Best Debut Film of a Director: Swatantrya Veer Savarkar – Randeep Hooda
- Best Popular Film: Kalki 2898 AD
- Best Film Promoting National, Social, and Environmental Values: Captain Miller
- Best Children’s Film: 35-Chinna Katha Kaadu
- Best Direction: Rajkumar Periasamy – Amaran
- Best Actor: Mammootty – Bramayugam and Kartik Aaryan – Chandu Champion
- Best Actress: Yami Gautam – Article 370
- Best Supporting Actor: Sanjay Mishra – Bhakshak
- Best Supporting Actress: Sachana Namidass – Maharaja and Ropashree Varkady – Mithya
- Best Child Artist: Athish S Shetty, Arundev Pothula, Riddhiman Banerjee, Tapomoy Deb, and Gitashree Chakraborty
- Best Male Playback Singer: Abhay Jodhpurkar – “Navasachi Gauri Mazi”
- Best Female Playback Singer: Vaikom Vijayalakshmi – “Angu Vaana Konilu”
Technical and Music Award Winners
Shehnad Jalal won Best Cinematography for Bramayugam. Amaran received Best Editing for R. Kalaivannan, while G. V. Prakash Kumar won Best Background Music for the same film.
Shashwat Sachdev received Best Music Direction for songs in Article 370. Manoj Muntashir won Best Lyrics for “Jaane Do” from Maidaan, and Vijay Ganguly secured Best Choreography for “Aaj Ki Raat” from Stree 2.
Other technical winners included:
- Original Screenplay: Bandreddi Sukumar – Pushpa: The Rule Part 02
- Adapted Screenplay: Yogesh Deshpande – Swargandharva Sudhir Phadke
- Dialogue Writer: Venky Atluri – Lucky Baskhar
- Best Sound Design: Manas Choudhury – Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3
- Best Production Design: Nitin Zihani Choudhary – Kalki 2898 AD
- Best Costume Design: Deepali Noor and Sheetal Sharma – Pushpa: The Rule Part 02
- Best Make-up: P Ravi Kumar – Committee Kurrollu
- Best Action Direction: Anl Arasu – Maharaja
Regional Film Winners
The language-wise winners highlighted the diversity of Indian cinema:
- Assamese: Juiphool
- Bengali: Chalchitra Ekhon
- Gujarati: Maaran
- Hindi: Srikanth
- Kannada: Mithya
- Konkani: Mog Asum
- Malayalam: Feminichi Fathima
- Manipuri: Sunita
- Marathi: Mukkam Post Bombilwadi
- Odia: Lahari
- Tamil: Raayan
- Telugu: Committee Kurrollu
- Garhwali: Dholi
- Tulu: IMBU
Dhanush received a Special Mention for his performance in Captain Miller. Sound-mix engineer Suren G. was also given a Special Mention for Meiyazhagan.
Non-Feature Film and Cinema Writing Awards
Bhangaar, directed and produced by Sumira Roy, won Best Non-Feature Film. Ram-Nami, directed by Bharatbala Ganapathy, received Best Documentary, while Aanand L Rai won Best Direction for Statue of Unity – Ekta ka Prateek.
Angen won Best Debut Film of a Director, Touched as Water secured Best Animation Film, and Hamsafar was named Best Short Film. Piplantri: A Tale of Eco Feminism won the award for promoting social and environmental values.
The Best Book on Cinema award went to Kenchanuru Pradeep Kumar Shetty for the Kannada book Naaniruvude Nimagaagi Naadiruvude Nanagaagi: Kannada Cinemada Thathva Matthu Rajakeeya. Sanjeev Shrivastava was named Best Film Critic for his Hindi cinema writing.
The awards underlined the growing national recognition for films made across Indian languages. Productions including Article 370, Amaran, Bramayugam, Mithya, Maharaja, Kalki 2898 AD, and Committee Kurrollu emerged among the notable winners.
