NEW DELHI: The National Film Awards 2025 have taken place, and this year’s ceremony turned into a grand celebration of Indian cinema. From Bollywood to regional films, from actors to technicians, the awards honoured talent across every corner of the country.
Every winner received the prestigious Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal) or Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal), along with a certificate and cash prize.
Big winners of the evening
The Best Feature Film award went to ’12th Fail’ (Hindi), produced by ‘Vinod Chopra Films’ and directed by ‘Vidhu Vinod Chopra’. Both producer and director received ₹3,00,000 each.
Best Debut Film of a Director was bagged by ‘Ashish Avinash Bende’ for the Marathi film ‘Aatmapamphlet’, which also came with a ₹3,00,000 cash prize.
The ever-entertaining ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’ won Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, rewarding ‘Dharma Productions’ and director ‘Karan Johar’ with ₹3,00,000 each.
For children’s cinema, Marathi movie ‘Naal 2’ produced by ‘Aatpat Production’ and ‘Zee Studios’ and directed by ‘Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti’ stood out, winning Best Children’s Film.
The Telugu superhero hit ‘Hanu-Man’ shone bright in the new AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics) category. ‘Jetty Venkat Kumar’ won as Animator, while ‘Primeshow Entertainment’ and ‘Prasanth Varma’ won as Producer & Director. Each received ₹3,00,000. Kumar also won an additional award as VFX Supervisor, bringing him another ₹2,00,000.
In direction, the Hindi film ‘The Kerala Story’ brought ‘Sudipto Sen’ the Best Director award, worth ₹3,00,000.
Acting awards
The competition for acting honours was very close this year.
Best Actor in a Leading Role had two winners: Shah Rukh Khan’ for ‘Jawan’ (Hindi), Vikrant Massey’ for ’12th Fail’ (Hindi). Best Actress in a Leading Role went to ‘Rani Mukerji’ for her emotional performance in ‘Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway’ (Hindi).
Best Actor in a Supporting Role also had two winners: Vijayaraghavan’ for ‘Pookkaalam’ (Malayalam), and M. S. Bhaskar’ for ‘Parking’ (Tamil). Best Actress in a Supporting Role was shared by Urvashi’ for ‘Ullozhukku’ (Malayalam), and Janki Bodiwala’ for ‘Vash’ (Gujarati).
The Best Child Artist category had multiple winners too. Sukriti Veni Bandreddi’ for ‘Gandhi Tatha Chettu’ (Telugu), Kabir Khandare’ for ‘Gypsy’ (Marathi), Treesha Thosar, Shrinivas Pokale, Bhargav Jagtap’ for ‘Naal 2’ (Marathi).
Music and singing
The musical categories celebrated fresh voices and composers.
Best Male Playback Singer: ‘P V N S Rohit’ for ‘Premistunna’ in ‘Baby’ (Telugu)
Best Female Playback Singer: ‘Shilpa Rao’ for ‘Chaleya’ in ‘Jawan’ (Hindi)
Best Music Direction (Songs): ‘G. V. Prakash Kumar’ for ‘Vaathi’ (Tamil)
Best Music Direction (Background Score): ‘Harshavardhan Rameshwar’ for ‘Animal’ (Hindi)
Best Lyrics: ‘Kasarla Shyam’ for ‘Ooru Palletooru’ in ‘Balagam’ (Telugu)
Best Choreography: ‘Vaibhavi Merchant’ for ‘Dhindhora Baje Re’ in ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’ (Hindi)
Technical categories:
Cinema is not only about stars but also about the magic behind the camera.
Best Cinematography: ‘Prasantanu Mohapatra’ for ‘The Kerala Story’ (Hindi)
Best Screenplay (Original): ‘Sai Rajesh’ for ‘Baby’ (Telugu) and ‘Ramkumar Balakrishnan’ for ‘Parking’ (Tamil)
Best Screenplay (Dialogues): ‘Deepak Kingrani’ for ‘Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai’ (Hindi)
Best Sound Design: ‘Sachin Sudhakaran’ and ‘Hariharan Muralidharan’ for ‘Animal’ (Hindi)
Best Editing: ‘Midhun Murali’ for ‘Pookkaalam’ (Malayalam)
Best Production Design: ‘Mohandas’ for ‘2018’ (Malayalam)
Best Costume Design: ‘Sachin Lovalekar, Divvya Gambhir, Nidhhi Gambhir’ for ‘Sam Bahadur’ (Hindi)
Best Make-up: ‘Shrikant Desai’ for ‘Sam Bahadur’ (Hindi)
Best Stunt Choreography: ‘Nandu’ and ‘Prudhvi’ for ‘Hanu-Man’ (Telugu)
Regional film awards
India’s rich regional cinema got strong recognition this year. Each winner received ₹2,00,000 along with the Silver Lotus.
Best Assamese Film: ‘Rongatapu 1982’ by ‘BRC Cine Production’; directed by ‘Adityam Saikia’
Best Bengali Film: ”Deep Fridge” by ‘Colors of Dream Entertainment’; directed by ‘Arjunn Dutta’
Best Gujarati Film: ”Vash” by ‘Big Box Series Production, KS Entertainment’; directed by ‘Krishnadev Yagnik’
Best Hindi Film: ”Kathal” by ‘Netflix, Balaji Motion Pictures, Sikhya Entertainment’; directed by ‘Yashowardhan Mishra’
Best Kannada Film: ”Kandeelu – The Ray Of Hope” by ‘Swastik Entertainment’; directed by ‘Yeshoda Prakash Kottukathira’
Best Malayalam Film: ”Ullozhukku” by ‘Unnilazer Ventures, MacGuffin Pictures’; directed by ‘Christo Tomy’
Best Marathi Film: ”Shyamchi Aai” by ‘Amruta Films’; directed by ‘Sujay Dahake’
Best Odia Film: ”Pushkara” by ‘Tarang Cine Productions’; directed by ‘Subhransu Das’
Best Punjabi Film: ”Godday Godday Chaa” by ‘VH Entertainment, Zee Studios’; directed by ‘Vijay Kumar Arora’
Best Tamil Film: ”Parking” by ‘Passion Studios, Soldiers Factory’; directed by ‘Ramkumar Balakrishnan’
Best Telugu Film: ”Bhagavanth Kesari” by ‘Shine Screens’; directed by ‘Anil Ravipudi’
Best Garo Film: ”Rimdogittanga” by ‘Anna Films, Uncombed Buddha, Joicy Studio’; directed by ‘Dominic Sangma’
Best Tai Phake Film: ”Pai Tang” produced by ‘Naba Kumar Bhuyan’; directed by ‘Prabal Khaund’
Non-feature film awards
The Golden Lotus (Swarna Kamal) category celebrated documentaries, short films, and cultural works.
Best Non-Feature Film: ‘Flowering Man’ (Hindi)’ by ‘FTII’; directed by ‘Soumyajit Ghosh Dastidar’
Best Non-Feature Direction: ‘Piyush Thakur’ for ‘The First Film’ (Hindi)
Best Debut Film of a Director (Non-Feature): ‘Shilpika Bordoloi’ for ‘Mau: The Spirit Dreams of Cheraw’ (Mizo)
Special mentions
Some works received Special Mention Certificates without cash prizes:
M. R. Rajakrishnan’ for sound design in ‘Animal’ (Hindi)
M. K. Ramadas’ for ‘Nekal – Chronicle of The Paddy Man’ (Malayalam)
Himansu Sekhar Khatua’ for ‘The Sea & Seven Villages’ (Odia) produced by ‘Kadambini Media Pvt. Ltd.’
Finally, the Best Film Critic Award went to ‘Utpal Datta’ for his writings in Assamese. He received a cash prize of ₹1,00,000.
From Shah Rukh Khan winning his first National Award to new regional filmmakers getting the spotlight, the 2025 National Film Awards reflected the true diversity of Indian cinema. It honoured mainstream blockbusters like ‘Jawan’, artistic regional gems like ‘Ullozhukku’, powerful biographical stories like ‘Sam Bahadur’, and even non-feature documentaries tackling social issues.
Agencies