The 7th 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 1959. Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 1 May 1960 and awards were given by then Vice-President of India, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
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 7th National Film Awards, a Bengali film Apur Sansar won the President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film. Following were the awards given:
All India Award
For 7th National Film awards, none of the films were awarded from Documentary and Children's Films category as no film was found to be suitable, instead only Certificate of Merit was given. Following were the awards given in each category:
AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizePresident's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature FilmApur SansarBengaliProducer: Satyajit Ray Pvt Ltd.Gold Medal and 20,000Director: Satyajit Ray5,000All India Certificate of Merit for Second Best Feature FilmHeera MotiHindiProducer: Pravin DesaiCertificate of Merit and 10,000Director: Krishnan Chopra2,500All India Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature FilmSujataHindiProducer: Bimal RoyCertificate of Merit onlyDirector: Bimal RoyAll India Certificate of Merit for Best Children's FilmBanyan DeerEnglishProducer: Films DivisionCertificate of Merit onlyDirector: Ahmed LateefDirector: Shanti VermaDirector: G. G. Saraiya
Regional Award
The awards were given to the best films made in the regional languages of India. For 7th National Film Awards, President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film was not given in Bengali, Kannada and Malayalam language; instead Certificate of Merit was awarded in each particular language.
AwardFilmAwardee(s) Producer DirectorFeature Films in AssamesePresident's Silver Medal for Best Feature FilmPuberunK. C. RoyPrabhat MukherjeePaji DossFeature Films in BengaliCertificate of MeritBicharakArundhati MukherjeePrabhat MukherjeeFeature Films in HindiPresident's Silver Medal for Best Feature FilmAnariLachman B. LullaHrishikesh MukherjeeFeature Films in KannadaCertificate of MeritJagat jyothi BasaweswaraG. S. S. MurthyT. V. Singh ThakoreFeature Films in MalayalamCertificate of MeritChathurangamCapt. (Dr.) G. T. JoshuaJ. D. ThottanD. V. SwamyFeature Films in TamilPresident's Silver Medal for Best Feature FilmBhaaga PirivinaiG. N. VelumaniA. BhimsinghCertificate of MeritVeerapandiya KattabommanB. R. PanthaluB. R. PanthuluKalyana ParisuSarvashri S. KrishnamurthyC. V. Sridhar T. GovindarajanC. V. SridharFeature Films in TeluguPresident's Silver Medal for Best Feature FilmNammina BantuSambhu FilmsAdurthi Subba RaoCertificate of MeritMaa Inti MahalakshmiNavashakthi Films Pvt Ltd.Gutha RamineeduJayabheriVasireddy Narayana RaoP. Pullaiah
Non-Feature films
Non-feature film awards were given for the documentaries made in the country. Following were the awards given:
Documentaries
AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizeAll India Certificate of Merit for the Best Documentary FilmKathakaliEnglishProducer: Films DivisionCertificate of Merit and 2,000Director: Mohan Wadhwani500Mayurakshi DamHindiProducer: Films DivisionCertificate of Merit onlyDirector: N. K. Issar
Awards not given
Following were the awards not given as no film was found to be suitable for the award:
President's Gold Medal for the Best Documentary Film Prime Minister's Gold Medal for the Best Children's Film President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Bengali 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
References
External links National Film Awards Archives Official Page for Directorate of Film Festivals, India