The National Film Award for Best Cinematography is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus).
The award was instituted in 1967, at 15th National Film Awards and awarded annually for films produced in the year across the country, in all Indian languages. Till 34th National Film Awards, awards were given for Black-and-white as well as Color motion picture film. Since 37th National Film Awards, Laboratory Processing are also awarded under the same category. From 70th National Film Awards, the primary/main cinematographer is alone awarded, while eliminating the existing two sub-categories.
Multiple winners 4 wins: K. K. Mahajan, Avik Mukhopadhyay, Santosh Sivan
3 wins: Soumendu Roy, Apurba Kishore Bir, Madhu Ambat, Venu
2 wins: Ramachandra, Balu Mahendra, Ashok Mehta, Sudeep Chatterjee
Recipients
Award includes 'Rajat Kamal' (Silver Lotus) and cash prize. The only female who has won this award is Anjuli Shukla, who won the award for her debut film, Kutty Srank (2010). Prasad Film Lab has been awarded eight times for the laboratory processing. Following are the award winners over the years:
Indicates Black-and-white feature film
1967–2021 List of award recipients, showing the year (award ceremony), film(s) and language(s) Year Cameraman(s) Laboratory Processing Film(s) Language(s) 1967 Ramachandra Bambai Raat Ki Bahon Mein Hindi M. N. Malhotra Hamraaz Hindi 1968 Nariman Irani Saraswatichandra HindiK. S. Prasad Thillana Mohanambal Tamil 1969 K. K. Mahajan Sara Akash Hindi Marcus Bartley Shanti Nilayam Tamil 1970 K. K. Mahajan Uski Roti Hindi Radhu Karmakar Mera Naam Joker Hindi 1971 Nando Bhattacharya Anubhav Hindi Ramachandra Reshma Aur Shera Hindi 1972 Mankada Ravi Varma Swayamvaram Malayalam K. K. Mahajan Maya Darpan Hindi 1973 Apurba Kishore Bir 27 Down Hindi Soumendu Roy Ashani Sanket Bengali 1974 K. K. Mahajan Chorus Bengali Soumendu Roy Sonar Kella Bengali 1975 B. S. Lokanath Apoorva Raagangal Tamil Ishan Arya Muthyala Muggu Telugu 1976 P. S. Nivas Mohiniyaattam Malayalam S. Ramachandra Rishya Shringa Kannada 1977 Balu Mahendra Kokila Kannada Soumendu Roy Shatranj Ke Khilari Hindi 1978 Shaji N. Karun Thampu Malayalam Govind Nihalani Junoon Hindi 1979 Kamal Nayak Neem Annapurna Bengali Rajan Kinagi Shodh Hindi 1980 Sivan Yagam Malayalam Ashok Kumar Nenjathai Killathe Tamil 1981 Shripati R. Bhat Mooru Darigalu Kannada Ashok Mehta 36 Chowringhee Lane English 1982 Balu Mahendra Moondram Pirai Tamil 1983 B. Bindhani Neeraba JhadaOriya Raj Shekhar Madhu Ambat Adi Shankaracharya Sanskrit 1984 Jehangir Choudhary Holi Hindi 1985 Subrata Mitra New Delhi Times Hindi 1986 Venu Namukku Parkkan Munthiri ThoppukalMalayalam Amma Ariyan 1987 P. C. Sreeram Nayakan Tamil 1988 Apurba Kishore Bir Daasi Telugu 1989 Virendra Saini Adlabs Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro Hindi 1990 Santosh Sivan Vijay Colour Lab Perumthachan Malayalam 1991 Apurba Kishore Bir Prasad Film Lab Aadi Mimansa Oriya 1992 Venu Prasad Film Lab Miss Beatty's Children English 1993 Venu Prasad Film Lab Ponthan Mada Malayalam 1994 K. V. Anand Gemini Color Lab Thenmavin Kombath Malayalam 1995 Santosh Sivan Gemini Color Lab Kaalapani Malayalam 1996 Mrinal Kanti Das Prasad Film Lab AdajyaRag Birag Assamese 1997 Santosh Sivan Prasad Film Lab Iruvar Tamil 1998 Santosh Sivan Gemini Color Lab Dil Se.. Hindi 1999 Anil Mehta Adlabs Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam Hindi 2000 Ashok Mehta Prasad Film Lab Moksha Hindi 2001 Ramachandra Halkare Prasad Film Lab Dweepa Kannada 2002 Abhik Mukhopadhyay Rainbow Color Lab Patalghar Bengali 2003 Chota K Naidu Mallemala Entertainments Anji Telugu 2004 Mahesh Aney Adlabs Swades Hindi 2005 Madhu Ambat Prasad Film Lab Sringaram Tamil 2006 Gautam Ghose Rainbow Colour Lab Yatra Hindi 2007 Shanker Raman Deluxe Laboratories Inc. Frozen Hindi 2008 Abhik Mukhopadhyay Filmlab Antaheen Bengali 2009 Anjuli Shukla Adlabs Kutty Srank Malayalam 2010 Madhu Ambat Adaminte Makan Abu Malayalam 2011 Satya Rai Nagpaul Reliance MediaWorks Anhe Ghore Da Daan Punjabi 2012Sudheer PalsanePrasad StudiosKo:YadMishing 2013Rajeev RaviLiar's DiceHindi 2014Sudeep ChatterjeeChotushkoneBengali 2015Sudeep ChatterjeeBajirao MastaniHindi 2016Tirru24Tamil 2017Nikhil S. PraveenBhayanakamMalayalam 2018M. J. RadhakrishnanOluMalayalam 2019Girish GangadharanJallikattu Malayalam 2020Supratim Bhol Avijatrik Bengali 2021Avik MukhopadhyaySardar UdhamHindi
2022–present Since the 70th National Film Awards, cinematographer alone is awarded. List of award recipients, showing the year (award ceremony), film(s) and language(s) Year Recipient(s) Film(s) Language(s) 2022Ravi VarmanPonniyin Selvan: ITamil 2023Prasantanu MohapatraThe Kerala StoryHindi 2024Shehnad JalalBramayugamMalayalam
References
External links Official Page for Directorate of Film Festivals, India National Film Awards Archives