The 36th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1988. Ceremony took place in 1989.
Awards
Awards were divided into feature films, non-feature films, and books written on Indian cinema.
Lifetime Achievement Award AwardImageAwardee(s)Awarded asAwardsDadasaheb Phalke AwardAshok KumarActorSwarna Kamal, and a shawl
Feature films Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For 36th National Film Awards, a Malayalam film, Piravi won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film whereas a Telugu film, Daasi won the maximum number of awards (5). Following were the awards given in each category:
Juries A committee headed by Tapan Sinha was appointed to evaluate the feature films awards. Following were the jury members: Jury members Tapan Sinha (Chairperson)Balu MahendraBharathirajaBhaskar ChandavarkarBimal DuttCharu Kamal HazarikaDhira BiswalJatin DasJ. P. DasJayoo PatwardhanLakshmi DeepakN. Lakshmi NarayanNiranjan RoyC. RadhakrishnanV. Raja KrishnanVasant Chaudhury
All India Award Following were the awards given:
Golden Lotus Award Official name: Swarna Kamal
All awardees receive the Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal), a certificate and cash prize.
AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)PrizeBest Feature FilmPiraviMalayalamProducer: S. Jayachandran Nair 50,000/-director: Shaji N. Karun 25,000/-Citation: For creative evocation of human pathos with refined cinematic sensitivity.Best Debut Film of a DirectorTrishagniHindiProducer and Director: Nabendu Ghosh 25,000/- EachCitation: For excellent exploration of complex philosophical theme for the first time in Indian cinema.Best Film Providing Popular and Wholesome EntertainmentQayamat Se Qayamat TakHindi / UrduProducer: M/s Nasir Hussain Films 40,000/-Director: Mansoor Khan 20,000/-Citation: For presenting fresh and clean charm on celluloid with discerning imagination.Best Children's FilmManu UncleMalayalamProducer: Joy Thomas 30,000/-Director: Dennis Joseph 15,000/-Citation: For endearing and hilarious picturisation which promotes a sense of adventure among children.Best DirectionPiraviMalayalamShaji N. Karun 50,000/-Citation: For remarkable success in accomplishing fusion of various elements and creating new heights of cinematic aesthetics.
Silver Lotus Award
Official name: Rajat Kamal
All awardees receive the Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal), a certificate and cash prize.
AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)PrizeBest Feature Film on National IntegrationRudraveenaTeluguProducer: Nagendra Babu 30,000/-Director: K. Balachander 15,000/-Citation: For presenting vertical as well as horizontal social integration on a musical plane and thus offering a cultural revolution as solution to maladies of the rural population.Best Film on Other Social IssuesMain Zinda HoonHindiProducer: NFDC and Doordarshan 30,000/-Director: Sudhir Mishra 15,000/-Citation: For portraying with redeemed finesse the saga of the agony of the middle class working woman.Best ActorPiraviMalayalamPremji 10,000/-Citation: For excellence in restrained performance.Best ActressDaasiTeluguArchana 10,000/-Citation: For the convincing portrayal of a 1925 Telanga Dasi girl who was subject to total exploitation.Best Supporting ActorRaakhHindiPankaj Kapoor 10,000/-Best Supporting ActressEk Din AchanakHindiUttara Baokar 10,000/-Citation: For playing the difficult role of a wife caught in the midst of unique social and psychological predicament.Best Child ArtistSalaam Bombay!HindiShafiq Syed 5,000/-Citation: For the natural ease with which he has portrayed a slum child.Best Male Playback SingerRudraveenaTeluguS. P. Balasubrahmanyam 10,000/-Citation: For bringing playback singing a rare depth of emotion adorned by his command of classical idiom.Best Female Playback SingerVaishaliMalayalamK. S. Chithra 10,000/-Citation: For her clear and tuneful rendering of the song.Best CinematographyDaasiTeluguApurba Kishore Bir 10,000/-Citation: For high technical excellence and creative participation in evolving the basic statement.Best ScreenplayIn Which Annie Gives It Those OnesEnglishArundhati Roy 10,000/-Citation: For capturing the anguish prevailing among students of professional institutions.Best AudiographyPiraviMalayalamT. Krishnan Unni 10,000/-Citation: For creatively helping to capture and sustain the delicate seasonal and emotional mood of the film.Best EditingRaakhHindiA. Sreekar Prasad 10,000/-Citation: For his precise use of time and juxtaposition in bringing out creatively the internal turmoil of a modern youth.Best Art DirectionDaasiTeluguT. Vaikuntham 10,000/-Citation: For his minute care and concern for detail of prop and decor, creating a period locale which becomes an amalgamated part of the film enhancing its aesthetic value.Best Costume DesignDaasiTeluguSudharshan 10,000/-Citation: For his tender handling of warped fabric and jewellery with correct hues and authenticity.Best Music DirectionRudraveenaTeluguIlaiyaraaja 10,000/-Citation: For creating an innovative score which brings out the splendour of classical tradition and blends it beautifully with modern sensibilities.Best LyricsVaishaliMalayalamO. N. V. Kurup 10,000/-Citation: For the rare poetic heights reached in all lyrics in the film.Special Jury AwardVasundharaHindiAshok Ahuja (director) 5,000/-Citation: For the sensitive and compulsive evolution of the much needed love for the eco-system and for defining the role of humanity in saving mankind and nature from devastation.Special MentionQayamat Se Qayamat TakRaakhHindiAamir Khan (Actor)Certificate onlyCitation: For the imaginative, innovative and promising performance of character roles in the films.
Regional awards
The award is given to best film in the regional languages in India.
AwardFilmAwardee(s)PrizeBest Feature Film in AssameseKolahalProducer: Bhabendra Nath Saikia 20,000/-Director: Bhabendra Nath Saikia 10,000/-Citation: For taking up the bold theme of the struggle of a deserted woman caught between convection and the desire to live.Best Feature Film in HindiSalaam Bombay!Producer: NFDC, Mirabai Films and Doordarshan 20,000/-Director: Mira Nair 10,000/-Citation: For exploring the tragic realities of life for the homeless children and women and those enmashed by drugs.Best Feature Film in KannadaBannada VeshaProducer: Doordarshan 20,000/-Director: Girish Kasaravalli 10,000/-Citation: For superb blend of different departments of film-making to bring out lyrically the predicament of performing artiste and his quest for identity.Best Feature Film in MalayalamRugminiProducer: S. C. Pillai and Gigy Abraham 20,000/-Director: K. P. Kumaran 10,000/-Citation: For compassionate depiction of the human condition permeating the dark realities of a social evil.Best Feature Film in OriyaKichi Smruti Kichi AnubhutiProducer: K. Jagadeswari 20,000/-Director: Manmohan Mahapatra 10,000/-Citation: For the cinematic depiction of the past, present and future of the psyche of a representative village.Best Feature Film in TeluguDaasiProducer: B. Ramachandra Rao 20,000/-Director: B. Narsing Rao 10,000/-Citation: For portraying the grim reality of a feaudal milieu through original and rare use of film language.
Best Feature Film in Each of the Language Other Than Those Specified in the Schedule VIII of the Constitution
AwardFilmAwardee(s)PrizeBest Feature Film in EnglishIn Which Annie Gives It Those OnesProducer: Pradip Krishen 20,000/-Director: Pradip Krishen 10,000/-Citation: For portrayal of the agonies and aspiration of the present day student community in excellent cinematic language.
Non-feature films
Short films made in any Indian language and certified by the Central Board of Film Certification as a documentary/newsreel/fiction are eligible for non-feature film section.
Juries
A committee headed by Homi Sethna was appointed to evaluate the non-feature films awards. Following were the jury members: Jury Members Homi Sethna (Chairperson)JagmohanSamiran DuttaRam MohanRajiv Mehrotra
Golden Lotus Award
Official name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees receive the Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal), a certificate and cash prize.
AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)PrizeBest Non-Feature FilmKanaka PurandaraKannadaProducer: Girish Karnad Films DivisionDirector: Girish Karnad 15,000/- EachCitation: For communicating, through the lives of Kanakadasa and Purandaradasa, the many facets of Bhakti, transcending all barriers of caste and creed, encompassing the love of man for man and man for God, using an unique fusion of different elements of cinema of the documentary genre.
Silver Lotus Award
Official name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees receive the Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal) and cash prize.