The 12th 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 1964. Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 31 May 1965 and awards were given by then Governor of Maharashtra, P. V. Cherian.
Starting with 12th National Film Awards, a new award was introduced at All India level for Best Story Writer. Also awards for films made in English and Kashmiri language are also considered for the President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in the respective language at the regional level.
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 12th National Film Awards, a Bengali film Charulata won the President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film. Following were the awards given:
All India Award
For 12th National Film Awards, none of the films were awarded from Children's Films category as no film was found to be suitable. Following were the awards given in each category:
AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizePresident's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature FilmCharulataBengaliProducer: R. D. BansalGold Medal and 20,000Director: Satyajit Ray 5,000All India Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature FilmHaqeeqatHindiProducer: Chetan AnandCertificate of Merit and 10,000Director: Chetan Anand 2,500All India Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature FilmUnnaipol OruvanTamilProducer: Aasiya Jyothi filmsCertificate onlyDirector: D. JayakanthanCertificate onlyAll India Certificate of Merit for the Best Story WriterAarohiBengaliBalai Chand MukhopadhyayCertificate only
Regional Award
The awards were given to the best films made in the regional languages of India. With 12th National Film Awards, two more awards were introduced for the feature films made in English and Kashmiri language. These newly introduced categories includes President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film and Certificate of Merit for second and third best film, although former was not given as no film was found suitable for the award.
AwardFilmAwardee(s) Producer DirectorFeature Films in AssamesePresident's Silver Medal for Best Feature FilmPratidhwaniKamrup ChitraBhupen HazarikaFeature Films in BengaliPresident's Silver Medal for Best Feature FilmAarohiAsim PalTapan SinhaCertificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature FilmAnustup ChhandaB. K. ProductionsPijush BoseFeature Films in EnglishPresident's Silver Medal for Best Feature FilmThe AvalancheSerbjeet SinghSerbjeet SinghFeature Films in HindiPresident's Silver Medal for Best Feature FilmDostiTarachand BarjatyaSatyen BoseCertificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature FilmYaadeinSunil DuttSunil DuttCertificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature FilmGeet Gaya Patharon NeV. Shantaram ProductionsV. ShantaramFeature Films in KannadaPresident's Silver Medal for Best Feature FilmChandavalliya ThotaPals & Co.T. V. Singh ThakurCertificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature FilmNava JeevanaU. S. VadhirajP. S. MoorthyU. JawaharBharathi ChitraCertificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature FilmMane AliyaA. Subba RaoS. K. A. ChariFeature Films in KashmiriPresident's Silver Medal for Best Feature FilmMainz-RaatM. R. SethShyam and Jagiram PaulFeature Films in MarathiPresident's Silver Medal for Best Feature FilmPathlaagRaja ParanjapeRaja ParanjapeCertificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature FilmTuka Jhalase KalasN. G. DatarRaja NeneCertificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature FilmSawaal Majha Aika!Anant Govind ManeAnant Govind ManeFeature Films in OriyaPresident's Silver Medal for Best Feature FilmSadhanaDiamond Valley ProductionPrabhat MukherjeeCertificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature FilmNaba JanmaPancha Sakha PicturesSachin MukherjiFeature Films in PunjabiPresident's Silver Medal for Best Feature FilmJaggaK. B. ChadhaJugal KishoreFeature Films in TeluguPresident's Silver Medal for Best Feature FilmDoctor ChakravarthyD. Madhusudhana RaoAdurthi Subba RaoCertificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature FilmRamadasuV. NagayyaV. Nagayya
Non-Feature films
Non-feature film awards were given for the documentaries, educational films and film strips made in the country. For 12th National Film Awards, no award was given in the filmstrip category and only Certificate of Merit was awarded for Educational Films. Following were the awards given for the non-feature films category:
Documentaries
AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizeAll India Certificate of Merit for the Best Documentary FilmOne DayEnglishProducer: Jagat MurariCertificate of Merit and 1,000Director: S. N. S. Sastry 250All India Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Documentary FilmAll Under Heaven By ForceEnglishProducer: J. B. H. WadiaCertificate of Merit onlyDirector: J. B. H. WadiaAnd Miles To GoProducer: S. SukhdevDirector: S. Sukhdev
Educational films
AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizeAll India Certificate of Merit for the Best Educational FilmSterilisation of the FemaleHindiProducer: Films DivisionDirector: G. H. SaraiyaCertificate of Merit only
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 Prime Minister's Gold Medal for the Best Educational Film
References
External links National Film Awards Archives Official Page for Directorate of Film Festivals, India