The 67th National Film Awards were announced at a press meet on 22 March 2021 to honour the best Indian films certified in India between 1 January and 31 December 2019. The awards ceremony, at which the Directorate of Film Festivals presents its annual National Film Awards to honour the best in Indian cinema, was originally slated to be held on 3 May 2020. It was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was presented on 25 October 2021.
Selection process The Directorate of Film Festivals invited online entries and the acceptable last date for entries was until 17 February 2020. Feature and Non-Feature Films certified by Central Board of Film Certification between 1 January 2019, and 31 December 2019, were eligible for the film award categories. Books, critical studies, reviews or articles on cinema published in Indian newspapers, magazines, and journals between 1 January 2019, and 31 December 2019, were eligible for the best writing on cinema section. Entries of dubbed, revised or copied versions of a film or translation, abridgements, edited or annotated works and reprints were ineligible for the awards.
For the Feature and Non-Feature Films sections, films in any Indian language, shot on 16 mm, 35 mm, a wider film gauge or a digital format, and released in cinemas, on video or digital formats for home viewing were eligible. Films were required to be certified as a feature film, a featurette or a Documentary/Newsreel/Non-Fiction by the Central Board of Film Certification.
Dadasaheb Phalke Award Introduced in 1969, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award is the highest award given to recognise the contributions of film personalities towards the development of Indian cinema and for distinguished contributions to the medium, its growth and promotion."
A committee consisting five eminent personalities from Indian film industry was appointed to evaluate the lifetime achievement award, Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Following were the jury members:
Jury Members Asha Bhosle Subhash Ghai Mohanlal Shankar Mahadevan Biswajit Chatterjee
Name of AwardImageAwardee(s)Awarded asAwardsDadasaheb Phalke Award Rajinikanth Actor Swarna Kamal, and a shawl
Best Film Friendly State The awards aim at encouraging study and appreciation of cinema as an art form and dissemination of information and critical appreciation of this art-form through a State Government Policy. Jury Shaji N. Karun Manju Borah Ravi Kottarakara Ravi Kottarakara Firdausul Hasan Firdausul Hasan Abhishek Shah
AwardName of StateCitationBest Film Friendly StateState of Sikkim
Feature films
Jury
Jury PanelCentralNorth South-1South-2EastWestChairpersonN. ChandraManju BorahArunoday SharmaSubhash SehgalG P VijayakumarC. Umamaheswara RaoMembersC. Umamaheswara RaoSasidharan PillaiPampallyPrashant NaikRajesh Kumar SinghChristopher DaltonManju BorahAnuradha SinghVinod MankaraNidhi PrasadManiram SinghGK DesaiBijaya JenaAdeep TandonSaranPrakash HBAjaya RoutrayDnyanesh MogheDilip ShuklaAtul PandeyK. Umamaheswara RaoRajendra Prasad ChoudrieArijit HalderSanjay Khanzode
Golden Lotus Awards Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizeBest Feature FilmMarakkar: Lion of the Arabian SeaMalayalam Producer: Antony PerumbavoorDirector: Priyadarshan ₹250,000 eachBest DirectionBahattar Hoorain (72 Hoorain)HindiSanjay Puran Singh Chauhan₹250,000 eachBest Debut Film of a DirectorHelenMalayalamProducer: Vineeth SreenivasanDirector: Mathukutty Xavier₹125,000 eachBest Popular Film Providing Wholesome EntertainmentMaharshiTeluguProducer: Sri Venkateswara Creations Vyjayanthi Movies PVP Cinema Director: Vamshi Paidipally ₹200,000 eachBest Children's Film Kastoori HindiProducer: Insight FilmsDirector: Vinod Uttreshwar Kamble₹150,000 each
Silver Lotus Award Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizeBest Feature Film on National Integration Tajmal MarathiProducer: Tuline Studios Pvt. Ltd.Director: Niyaz Mujawar₹150,000 eachBest Film on Other Social IssuesAnandi Gopal MarathiProducer: Essel Vision Productions Ltd. Freshlime Films LLP Namah Pictures Pvt. Ltd. Director: Sameer Vidwans₹150,000 eachBest Film on Environment Conservation/PreservationWater BurialMonpaProducer: Faruque Iftikar LaskarDirector: Shantanu Sen₹150,000 eachBest ActorBhonsle HindiManoj Bajpayee ₹50,000 eachAsuranTamilDhanushBest ActressManikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi PangaHindiKangana Ranaut₹50,000Best Supporting ActorSuper DeluxeTamilVijay Sethupathi₹50,000,000Best Supporting ActressThe Tashkent FilesHindiPallavi Joshi₹50,000Best Child ArtistKD TamilNaga Vishal₹50,000Best Male Playback SingerKesariHindiB Praak₹50,000Best Female Playback SingerBardoMarathiSavani Ravindra₹50,000Best CinematographyJallikattuMalayalam Girish Gangadharan₹50,000Best Screenplay Jyeshthoputro Bengali Kaushik Ganguly₹50,000Best Screenplay Gumnaami BengaliSrijit Mukherji₹50,000Best ScreenplayThe Tashkent FilesHindiVivek Ranjan Agnihotri₹50,000Best AudiographyIewduhKhasiDebajit Gayan₹50,000Best AudiographyTrijyaMarathiMandar Kamalapurkar₹50,000Best AudiographyOththa Seruppu Size 7Tamil Resul Pookutty₹50,000Best EditingJerseyTeluguNaveen Nooli₹50,000Best Production DesignAnandi GopalMarathiSunil Nigwekar Nilesh Wagh₹50,000Best Costume DesignMarakkar: Lion of the Arabian SeaMalayalamSujith Sudhakaran V. Sai₹50,000Best Make-up ArtistHelenMalayalamRanjith₹50,000Best Music DirectionViswasamTamilD. Imman₹50,000Best Music DirectionJyeshthoputroBengaliPrabuddha Banerjee₹50,000 Best LyricsKolaambiMalayalamPrabha Varma₹50,000Best Special EffectsMarakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea MalayalamSiddharth Priyadarshan ₹50,000Best ChoreographyMaharshiTelugu Raju Sundaram₹50,000 Best Stunt ChoreographerAvane Srimannarayana Kannada Vikram More₹50,000Special Jury AwardOththa Seruppu Size 7TamilR. Parthiban₹2,00,000Special MentionBiriyaaniMalayalamSajin Babu Certificate onlyJonaki PoruaAssameseBenjamin Daimary Lata Bhagwan KareMarathiLata Kare PicassoMarathiAbhijeet Mohan Warang
Regional awards National Film Awards are also given to the best films in the regional languages of India. Awards for the regional languages are categorised as per their mention in the Eighth schedule of the Constitution of India. Awardees included producers and directors of the film. No films in languages other than those specified in the Schedule VIII of the Constitution were eligible.
AwardFilmAwardee(s)Cash prize Producer DirectorBest Feature Film in AssameseRonuwa - Who Never Surrender Bornali Creative Vision EntertainmentChandra Mudoi₹1,00,000 eachBest Feature Film in BengaliGumnaami SVF Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. Srijit Mukherji₹1,00,000 eachBest Feature Film in HindiChhichhore Nadiadwala Grandson EntertainmentFox Star StudiosNitesh Tiwari₹1,00,000 eachBest Feature Film in Kannada Akshi Kalaadegula Studio Manoj Kumar₹1,00,000 each Best Feature Film in KonkaniKaajrode Goan StudioNitin Bhaskar₹1,00,000 eachBest Feature Film in Malayalam Kalla Nottam First Print Studios Rahul Riji Nair₹1,00,000 eachBest Feature Film in Manipuri Eigi Kona Luwang Apokpa Mamikol Production Bobby Wahengbam Haorongbam₹1,00,000 eachBest Feature Film in Odia Sala Budhar Badla New Generation Films Sabyasachi Mohapatra₹1,00,000 eachKalira AtitaEleeanora Images Pvt. Ltd.Nila Madhab PandaBest Feature Film in MarathiBardo Ritu Films Cut LLP Bhimrao Mude₹1,00,000 each Best Feature Film in PunjabiRabb Da Radio 2Vehli Janta FilmsSharandeep Singh₹1,00,000 eachBest Feature Film in TamilAsuranV CreationsVetrimaaran₹1,00,000 eachBest Feature Film in TeluguJersey Sithara EntertainmentsGowtam Tinnanuri₹1,00,000 each
Best Feature Film in Each of the Language Other Than Those Specified In the Schedule VIII of the Constitution
AwardFilmAwardee(s)Cash prize Producer Director Best Feature Film in Chhattisgarhi Bhulan The MazeSwapnil Film ProductionsManoj Verma₹1,00,000 each Best Feature Film in Haryanvi Chhoriyan Chhoron Se Kam Nahi Hoti Vision Productions Limited Satish Kaushik EntertainmentRajesh Amar Lal Babbar₹1,00,000 each Best Feature Film in Khasi IewduhShiven ArtsPradip Kurbah₹1,00,000 each Best Feature Film in MisingAnu RuwadObonori PicturesDilip Kumar Doley₹1,00,000 each Best Feature Film in PaniyaKenjiraNeru FilmsManoj Kana₹1,00,000 each Best Feature Film in TuluPingaraDMR ProductionsR. Preetham Shetty₹1,00,000 each
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.
Jury Arun Chaddha (Chairman) Sesino Yhoshü Meena Longjam Sriprakash Menon Sushil Rajpal Harish Bhimani Sanjib Parasar
Golden Lotus Award Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizeBest Non-Feature Film An Engineered Dream HindiHemant Gaba₹1,50,000 eachBest Director in Non-Feature FilmKnock Knock Knock EnglishBengali Sudhanshu Saria₹1,50,000
Silver Lotus Award Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the Awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)' and cash prize.
AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizeBest Debut Non-Feature Film of A DirectorKhisaMarathiProducer : Santosh Maithani Director: Raj Pritam More 75,000/- each Best Biographical FilmElephants Do RememberEnglishProducer: Films DivisionDirector: Swati Pandey Viplove Rai Bhatia Manohar Singh Bisht 50,000/- eachBest Arts / Cultural Film Shrikshetra Ru SahijataOdiaDirector and Producer: Ashutosh Pattnaik 50,000/- eachBest Environment FilmThe Stork SavioursHindiProducer: Rajiv Mehrotra PSBT Director: Ajay Bedi Vijay Bedi 50,000/- eachBest Promotional FilmThe ShowerHindiProducer: Little Lamb Films Pvt. Ltd.Director: Bauddhayan Mukherji 50,000/- each Best Film on Social IssuesHoly RightsHindiProducer: Priyanka Pradeep MoreDirector: Farha KhatunProducer & Director: Sudipta Kundu 50,000/- eachBest Educational FilmApples and Oranges EnglishProducer: LXL Ideas Private LimitedDirector: Rukshana Tabassum 50,000/- each Best Ethnographic FilmCharan - Atva the Essene of Being A NomadGujaratiProducer: Films DivisionDirector: Dinaz Kalwachwala 50,000/- eachBest Exploration Film Wild KarnatakaEnglishProducer: Amoghavarsha J. S.Director: Amoghavarsha J. S. Kalyan Varma Sarath Champati Vijaya Mohan Raj 50,000/- eachBest Investigative Film JakkalMarathiProducer: Neon Reel CreationDirector: Vivek Wagh 50,000/- eachBest Animation FilmRadha (Musical)Producer: Fairy CowsDirector: Bimal PoddarAnimator: Nitin Kharkar 50,000/- eachBest Short Fiction Film CustodyEnglishHindiProducer & Director: Ambiecka Pandit 50,000/- eachBest Film on Family ValuesOru Paathiraa Swapnam PoleMalayalamProducer: Satyajit Ray Film & Television InstituteDirector: Sharan Venugopal 50,000/- each Best CinematographySonsiHindiSavita Singh 50,000/- eachBest Audiography Radha (Musical) Re-recordist (final mixed track): Allwin Rego Sanjay Maurya 50,000/-Best On-Location Sound RecordistRahasHindiSaptarshi Sarkar 50,000/-Best Editing Shut Up SonaHindiEnglish Arjun Gourisaria 50,000/-Best Music DirectionKranti Darshi Guruji - Ahead of TimesHindiBishakh Jyoti 50,000/- Best Narration / Voice OverWild KarnatakaEnglishDavid Attenborough 50,000/- Special Jury Award Small Scale SocietiesEnglishVipin Vijay 1,00,000/-
Best Writing on Cinema The awards aim at encouraging study and appreciation of cinema as an art form and dissemination of information and critical appreciation of this art-form through publication of books, articles, reviews etc.
Jury A committee of three, headed by Utpal Borpujari was appointed to evaluate the nominations for the best writing on Indian cinema. The jury members were as follows:
Saibal Chatterjee (Chairman) Raghavendra Patil Rajeev Masand
Golden Lotus Award Official Name: Swarna Kamal