The 58th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema for the year 2010.
The selection process started by announcing the invitation for the awards on 18 March 2011. For feature and non-feature films, all the films certified by Central Board of Film Certification, India between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2010 were made eligible whereas for the best writing on cinema, all the books and articles as well reviews on Indian cinema published between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2010 were made eligible for the awards.
Three different committees were instituted in order to judge the various entries for feature film, non-feature film and best writing on cinema sections; headed by J. P. Dutta, for feature films and A. K. Bir along with Ashok Vajpeyi for non-feature films and best writing on cinema sections, respectively. Another committee of five members was also constituted for the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, having included two past Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipient, Shyam Benegal and Adoor Gopalakrishnan.
Each chairperson for feature film, non-feature film and best writing on cinema sections announced the award on 19 May 2011 for their respective sections and award ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi with President of India, Pratibha Patil giving away the awards on 9 September 2011.
Awards
Awards were divided into feature films, non-feature films and books written on Indian cinema.
Lifetime Achievement Award
The award is given to a prominent personality from the Indian film industry for their contribution.
Juries
A committee consisting five eminent personalities from Indian film industry was appointed to evaluate the lifetime achievement award, Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Following were the jury members:
Jury Members Shyam Benegal Adoor Gopalakrishnan Prasoon Joshi Shaji N. Karun Raghu Rai
Name of AwardImageAwardee(s)Awarded AsAwards Dadasaheb Phalke Award K. Balachander Director and Producer Swarna Kamal, 1,000,000 and a Shawl
Feature films
Films made in any Indian language shot on 16 mm, 35 mm or in a wider gauge or digital format but released on a film format or video/digital but certified by the Central Board of Film Certification as a feature film or featurette are eligible for Feature Film section.
Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For 58th National Film Awards, a Malayalam film, Adaminte Makan Abu won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film; whereas a Tamil film, Aadukalam won the maximum number of awards (6). Following were the awards given in each category:
Juries
A committee headed by J. P. Dutta was appointed to evaluate the feature films awards. The selection process returned to a Two Tier System of Selection. The Chairperson for the Northern Region was Nirad N. Mohapatra, for the Western Region, Chandraprakash Dwivedi, for South–I Region, Arunoday Sharma, for the Eastern Region, J. F. C. Durai and for South- II Region, Ansu Ranjan Sur. Following were the jury members:
Jury Members J. P. Dutta (Chairperson)Ansu Ranjan SurArunoday SharmaBharat BalaChandraprakash Dwivedi G. S. BhaskarJ. F. C. DuraiK. N. T. SastryKeval AroraNirad N. MohapatraPrahlad Kakkar Jury Regional : East J. F. C. DuraiNirmal DharT. Krishnan UnniPranab DasSuman Haripriya Jury Regional : West Chandraprakash DwivediSukumar JataniaAijaz KhanRajiv VijayakarPurushottam Berde Jury Regional : North Nirad N. MohapatraChitraarthM. M. AlexJeetendra SumanManjul Sinha Jury Regional : South-I Arunoday SharmaK. S. GomatamGnana RajasekaranK. G. GeorgeAkkineni Kutumba Rao Jury Regional : South-II Ansu Ranjan SurB. S. LingadevaruD. V. Narasa RajuN. Manu ChakravarthyMeenakshi Shedde
All India Award
Following were the awards given:
Golden Lotus Award
Official name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
Name of AwardName of FilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizeBest Feature FilmAdaminte Makan AbuMalayalamProducer: Salim Ahamed and Ashraf Bedidirector: Salim Ahamed 2,50,000/- EachCitation: For a simple yet evocative articulation of humanist values that liberates matters of faith from the constrictions of narrow parochialism. The concerns of Abu, son of Adam, are timeless and universal in their scope and appeal.Best Debut Film of a DirectorBaboo Band BaajaMarathiProducer: Nita JadhavDirector: Rajesh Pinjani 1,25,000/- EachCitation: For narrating a riveting tale of a father reluctant to educate his son, a mother who fiercely believes in its liberatory value of education, and the son who is caught in the crossfire. ‘Baboo’ is an outstanding debut project by director.Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome EntertainmentDabanggHindiProducer: Arbaaz Khan, Malaika Arora Khan and Dhillin MehtaDirector: Abhinav Singh Kashyap 2,00,000/- EachCitation: For responding to the need of cinegoers for "mast" entertainment that is rooted in Indian soil.Best Children's FilmHejjegaluKannadaProducer: Basanta Kumar PatilDirector: P. R. Ramadas Naidu 1,50,000/- EachCitation: For the tale of a little girl who cheerfully takes on her little shoulders the challenge of preserving the fabric of her family.Best DirectionAadukalamTamilVetrimaaran 2,50,000/-Citation: For narrating with panache and a realistic cinematic grammar, a gritty tale of love, jealousy and betrayal in the midst of blood-sport and violence.
Silver Lotus Award
Official name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.