The 4th National Film Awards, then known as State Awards for Films, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1956. Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 28 April 1957 and awards were given by then President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad.
Awards
Awards were divided into feature films and non-feature films.
President's gold medal for the All India Best Feature Film is now better known as National Film Award for Best Feature Film, whereas President's gold medal for the Best Documentary Film is analogous to today's National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film. For children's films, Prime Minister's gold medal is now given as National Film Award for Best Children's Film. At the regional level, President's silver medal for Best Feature Film is now given as National Film Award for Best Feature Film in a particular language. Certificate of Merit in all the categories is discontinued over the years.
Feature films
Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For the 4th National Film Awards, in this category, Kabuliwala, a Bengali film, along with a Telugu film, Tenali Ramakrishna won the maximum number of awards (two), with former also winning the President's gold medal for the All India Best Feature Film. Following were the awards given:
All India Award
For 4th National Film Awards, none of the films were awarded from Children's films category as no film was found to be suitable. Only Certificate of Merit for Children's films was given. Following were the awards given in each category:
AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s) Producer DirectorPresident's gold medal for the All India Best Feature FilmKabuliwalaBengaliCharuchitraTapan SinhaAll India Certificate of MeritBandhanHindiSircar ProductionsHem ChunderTenali RamakrishnaTeluguVikram ProductionsB. S. RangaAll India Certificate of Merit for Best Children's FilmJaldeepBengaliChildren's Film SocietyKidar Sharma
Regional Award
The awards were given to the best films made in the regional languages of India. For 4th National Film Awards, President's silver medal for Best Feature Film was not given in Hindi, Kannada and Tamil language; instead Certificate of Merit was awarded in each particular language, whereas no award was given for Assamese, Malayalam and Marathi language films.
AwardFilmAwardee(s) Producer DirectorFeature Films in BengaliPresident's silver medal for Best Feature Film in BengaliKabuliwalaCharuchitraTapan SinhaCertificate of MeritMahakavi GirishchandraEmkeji ProductionsMadhu BoseEk Din RatreR. K. FilmsSombhu MitraAmit MaitraFeature Films in HindiCertificate of MeritBasant BaharShri Vishwa Bharati FilmsR. ChandraFeature Films in KannadaCertificate of MeritBhakta VijayaJagannath ProductionsA. K. PattabhiFeature Films in TamilCertificate of MeritKula DheivamS. K. PicturesKrishnan–PanjuFeature Films in TeluguPresident's silver medal for Best Feature Film in TeluguTenali RamakrishnaVikram ProductionsB. S. RangaCertificate of MeritEdi NijamPratibha ProductionsS. Balachander
Non-Feature films
Non-feature film awards were given for the documentaries made in the country. Following were the awards given:
Documentaries
AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s) Producer DirectorPresident's gold medal for the Best Documentary FilmGotama The BuddhaEnglishBimal Roy ProductionsRajbans KhannaCertificate of MeritKhajurahoEnglishFilms DivisionM. WadhwaniA Village In TravancoreEnglishArt Films of Asia Private Ltd.Fali Billimoria
Awards not given
Following were the awards not given as no film was found to be suitable for the award:
Prime Minister's gold medal for the Best Children's Film President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Assamese President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Hindi President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Kannada President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Malayalam President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Marathi President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Tamil
References
External links National Film Awards Archives Official Page for Directorate of Film Festivals, India