The 38th 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 released in the year 1990. The ceremony took place in 1991.
With 38th National Film Awards, couple of new awards were instituted for Non-Feature films section. These awards includes Best Investigative Film, Best Audiography, Best Cinematography and Best Editing.
Awards
Awards were divided into feature films, non-feature films and books written on Indian cinema.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Name of AwardImageAwardee(s)Awarded AsAwardsDadasaheb Phalke AwardAkkineni Nageswara RaoActorSwarna Kamal, and a Shawl
Feature films
Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For 38th National Film Awards, a Tamil film, Marupakkam won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film, whereas a Hindi film, Lekin... won the maximum number of awards (5). Following were the awards given in each category:
Juries
A committee headed by veteran actor Ashok Kumar was appointed to evaluate the feature films awards. Following were the jury members:
Jury Members Ashok Kumar (chairperson)Usha KhannaP. V. GangadharanHoney IraniJanardhan RoyRaj BisariaT. Subbarami ReddySripriyaKomal SwaminathanJ. P. DasRekha SahayG. V. IyerT. S. NarasimhanBhupen HazarikaKalpana LajmiPremlata BajpaiShaji N. Karun
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 FilmMarupakkamTamilProducer: NFDC and Doordarshan 50,000/-director: K. S. Sethumadhavan 25,000/-Citation: For striking a balance between the existing traditional values and the modern values that are infused subsequently, and for treating the subject with the highest standards or aesthetic excellence.Best Debut Film of a DirectorPerumthachanMalayalamProducer: G. JayakumarDirector: Ajayan 25,000/- EachCitation: For depicting a historical backdrop with authenticity, shattering all traditional beliefs with superlative artistic texture.Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome EntertainmentGhayalHindiProducer: Dharmendra 40,000/-Director: Rajkumar Santoshi 20,000/-Citation: For being thematically highly credible, emotionally very well-woven, logically executed, and technically superb film.Best DirectionEk Doctor Ki MautHindiTapan Sinha 50,000/-Citation: For having presented a contemporary problem with courage, subtlety and finesse.
Silver Lotus Award
Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
Name of AwardAwardee(s)Name of FilmLanguageCash prizeSecond Best Feature FilmProducer: NFDCEk Doctor Ki MautHindi30,000/-Director: Tapan Sinha15,000/-Citation: For making a relevant social comment, presented in a tremendously communicative yet emotional manner.Best Film on Other Social IssuesProducer: Kavithalayaa ProductionsOru Veedu Iru VasalTamil 30,000/-Director: K. Balachander 15,000/-Citation: For focussing on women's problem and very sensitively showing the path by which women can be emancipated.Best ActorAmitabh BachchanAgneepathHindi 10,000/-Citation: For a towering performance, rising above the script with variation and nuances at all levels.Best ActressVijayashantiKarthavyamTelugu 10,000/-Citation: For depicting both aggression and femininity with balance and restraint.Best Supporting ActorNedumudi VenuHis Highness AbdullahMalayalam 10,000/-Citation: For maintaining the character with consistency and sensitivity.Best Supporting ActressK. P. A. C. LalithaAmaramMalayalam 10,000/-Citation: For portraying an ethnic character with authenticity.Best Child ArtistBaby ShrutiMaster TarunBaby ShamiliAnjaliTamil 5,000/-Citation: For giving excellent performances in which the children come across in all naturalness and yet give a glimpse of the adult within.Best Male Playback SingerM. G. SreekumarHis Highness Abdullah Malayalam 10,000/-Citation: For an excellent rendering of a classical-based tune encompassing all ranges accurately.Best Female Playback SingerLata MangeshkarLekin...Hindi 10,000/-Citation: For singing with outstanding expressions with the rarest and purest of styles.Best CinematographyCameraman: Santosh SivanLaboratory Processing: M/s Vijay Colour LaboratoriesPerumthachanMalayalam 10,000/- EachCitation: For heightening the mood of the film with the highest visual standards.Best ScreenplayK. S. SethumadhavanMarupakkamTamil 10,000/-Citation: For depicting a simplistic story, capturing the various levels of philosophy, psychology, tradition and relationships perfectly.Best AudiographyN. PanduranganAnjaliTamil 10,000/-Citation: For aesthetically weaving the soundtrack in the most creative manner to enhance the visuals of the film.Best EditingM. S. ManiIyer the GreatMalayalam 10,000/-Citation: For slick well-placed editing which elevates the craft of the film.Best Art DirectionNitish RoyLekin...Hindi 10,000/-Citation: For maintaining the era, etching the characters against the canvas, with perfect colour, design and execution.Best Costume DesignBhanu AthaiyaLekin...Hindi 10,000/-Citation: For the texture and tone of the costumes, which heighten the visual quality of the film, breaking away from the traditional image of bright Rajasthani colours by using subdued pastel shades.Best Music DirectionHridaynath MangeshkarLekin...Hindi 10,000/-Citation: For using traditional tunes and instruments creatively, with litting melody and haunting perfection.Best LyricsGulzarLekin...Hindi 10,000/-Citation: For evoking beautiful imagery, created through lyrical poetry.Special Jury AwardSunny Deol (Actor)GhayalHindi 10,000/- EachCitation: For an effective portrayal of a youth, victimised by the inherent evil in aspects of the present police system.Pankaj Kapoor (Actor)Ek Doctor Ki MautHindiCitation: For having effectively projected the in-built trauma of an aspiring, thinking, creative mind, in the context of a demoralising, fossilised system of establishment that does not provide scope for fruitation of a path-finding spirit.Jayabharathi (Actor)MarupakkamTamilCitation: For a touching portrayal of the agony of a woman who has been emotionally neglected, unwittingly.Special MentionAnoubam Kiranmala (Actor)IshanouMeiteiCertificate OnlyCitation: For a debut performance depicting various levels of conflict effectively.
Regional Awards
The award is given to best film in the regional languages in India.
Name of AwardName of FilmAwardee(s)Cash prizeBest Feature Film in AssameseJoojProducer: Bipul Baruah 20,000/-Director: Hemen Das 10,000/-Citation: For attempting to portray, with conviction, the earthy realism in the field of social differences.Best Feature Film in BengaliAtmajaProducer: Raj Kumar Jain 20,000/-Director: Nabyendu Chatterjee 10,000/-Citation: For its masterly depiction of a mother's quest, torn between the hollowness of wealth and the transcendence of human values.Best Feature Film in HindiDrishtiProducer: Govind Nihalani 20,000/-Director: Govind Nihalani 10,000/-Citation: For depicting marital pain very effectively.Best Feature Film in KannadaMuthina HaaraProducer: Rajendra Singh Babu 20,000/-Director: Rajendra Singh Babu 10,000/-Citation: For effectively portraying patriotism.Best Feature Film in MalayalamVasthuharaProducer: T. Ravindranath 20,000/-Director: G. Aravindan 10,000/-Citation: For being a human document, depicting the cruelties meted out by society to the dispossessed.Best Feature Film in TamilAnjaliProducer: Sujatha Productions Pvt. Ltd 20,000/-Director: Mani Ratnam 10,000/-Citation: For the unusual usage of film form, utilising music, choreography and sound with depth, achieving the highest aesthetic excellence to narrate the emotional nearness of the mentally retarted.Best Feature Film in TeluguMatti ManushuluProducer: K. Mukherjee and Veda Kumar 20,000/-Director: B. Narsing Rao 10,000/-Citation: For portraying the stark reality of pain which has been underlined with the warm hues of life.
Best Feature Film in Each of the Language Other Than Those Specified in the Schedule VIII of the Constitution
Name of AwardName of FilmAwardee(s)Cash prizeBest Feature Film in ManipuriIshanouProducer: Aribam Syam Sharma 20,000/-Director: Aribam Syam Sharma 10,000/-Citation: For effectively portraying the tragedy behind the institution of Maibi which unfortunately shatters a family.
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 S. Krishnaswamy was appointed to evaluate the non-feature films awards. Following were the jury members:
Jury Members S. Krishnaswamy (chairperson)Madan BawariaPramod MathurVijaya NirmalaSwapan Ghose
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 Non-Feature FilmGraven ImageEnglishProducer: Sumitendra Nath Tagore and Shyamasree TagoreDirector: Abhijit Chattopadhyay 15,000/- EachCitation: For combining the intimate portrayal of a sculptor in terms of biographical detail, bringing in the nuances of his art, summing up to an excellent portrait of a person, an artist, a period, and achieing this with high cinematic values.
Silver Lotus Award
Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)' and cash prize.