The 72nd National Film Awards were held at Ekta Nagar, Gujarat, with Anant Nag, Yami Gautam, Mammootty and Kartik Aaryan receiving major honours.
The 72nd National Film Awards ceremony was held at Ekta Nagar in Gujarat on September 22, marking a major departure from the event’s long-standing association with New Delhi.
President Droupadi Murmu presented the awards at a specially prepared venue near the Statue of Unity in Narmada district. The ceremony honoured achievements in Indian cinema during 2024 across feature films, non-feature films and writing on cinema.
Approximately 92 award recipients were recognised during the event.
Anant Nag Receives Dadasaheb Phalke Award
Veteran actor Anant Nag received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2024, Indian cinema’s highest honour, in recognition of his decades-long contribution to the industry.
Nag has worked extensively in Kannada cinema while also appearing in Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam and English-language productions. His acclaimed career includes commercial entertainers, parallel cinema and television.
The actor dedicated the honour to Karnataka, acknowledging the state’s central role in shaping his career.
Yami Gautam, Mammootty and Kartik Aaryan Honoured
Yami Gautam won Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in Article 370.
The Best Actor award was shared by Malayalam cinema veteran Mammootty for Bramayugam and Kartik Aaryan for the biographical sports drama Chandu Champion. The honour marked Aaryan’s first National Film Award.
Article 370 received the Best Feature Film award, while Srikanth, starring Rajkummar Rao, was named Best Hindi Feature Film.
Randeep Hooda received the award for Best Debut Film of a Director for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar. The film marked his first project as a director.
In the non-feature categories, Bhangaar won Best Non-Feature Film and Ram-Nami received the Best Documentary honour. The official winners were announced by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in July.
Ceremony Held Near Statue of Unity
The awards ceremony was staged at Ekta Nagar, formerly known as Kevadia, close to the Statue of Unity.
A temporary venue with a large structural dome was constructed to accommodate the President, award winners, government officials and nearly 1,000 invited guests.
The ceremony represented the first time in decades that the National Film Awards were presented outside Delhi. The previous ceremony outside the national capital was held in Chennai in 1970.
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has indicated that the ceremony may now rotate among different parts of India instead of remaining permanently based at Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan.
Supporters of the decision said hosting the awards in different states would give the national event broader geographical representation. However, the move to Gujarat also prompted debate among some filmmakers and political figures over the choice of venue.
The 72nd edition ultimately placed Ekta Nagar at the centre of India’s film industry as artists and filmmakers representing multiple languages and regions received the country’s highest cinematic honours.
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