The winners of the 71st National Film Awards were announced in New Delhi, with ‘12th Fail’ taking home the award for Best Film, while Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, and Vikrant Massey won top acting honours. The jury, chaired by filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker, honoured films certified by the CBFC between January 1 and December 31, 2023. Other notable winners included ‘The Kerala Story’, ‘Hanuman’, ‘Animal’, and ‘Parking’.
In the feature film categories, 12th Fail won Best Feature Film, while the Best Actor award was shared by Shah Rukh Khan for Jawan and Vikrant Massey for 12th Fail. Rani Mukerji won Best Actress for Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway, and Sudipto Sen took home Best Director for The Kerala Story. Urvashi (Ullozhukku) and Janki Bodiwala (Vash) shared the Best Supporting Actress award, while Vijayaraghavan (Pookkaalam) and Mutthupettai Somu Bhaskar (Parking) won Best Supporting Actor. Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani was recognised as the Best Feature Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, and Sam Bahadur won Best Film Promoting National and Social Values and more. The award for Best Music Direction for Songs went to Vaathi (Tamil), and for Background Score, it went to Harshavardhan Rameshwar for Animal. Best Lyrics was awarded to Balagam (The Group), while PVM Sroht won Best Male Playback Singer for Premisthunna and Shilpa Rao won Best Female Playback Singer for Chaliya. Vaibhavi Merchant won Best Choreography for Dhindhora Baje, Best Sound Design went to Sachin Sudhakaran and Hariharan Muralidharan for Animal, and Midhun Murali won Best Editing for Pookkaalam.
The regional film awards were as follows: Best Assamese Film – Rongatapu 1982, Best Bengali Film – Deep Fridge, Best Hindi Film – Kathal: A Jackfruit Mystery, Best Kannada Film – Kandeelu- The Ray of Hope, Best Malayalam Film – Ullozhukku, Best Marathi Film – Shyamchi Aai, Best Odia Film – Pushkara, Best Punjabi Film – Godday Godday Chaa, Best Tamil Film – Parking, Best Tai Phake Film – Pai Tang… Step of Hope, Best Garo Film – Rimdogittanga, Best Telugu Film – Bhagavanth Kesari, Best Gujarati Film – Vash, and Best Action Direction again went to Hanu-Man (Telugu).
In the non-feature film categories, Flowering Man was awarded Best Non-Fiction Film, and The Spirit Dreams of Cheraw won Best Debut Film of a Director. Mo Bou Mo Gaan, Lentina Ao won Best Biographical/Historical Reconstruction Film, Timeless Tamil Nadu was named Best Art/Culture Film, and God Vulture and Human won Best Documentary Film. The Silent Epidemic won Best Non-Feature Film Promoting Social and Environmental Values, while Giddh The Scavenger won Best Short Film. Best Direction went to Piyush Thakur for The First Film, Best Cinematography to Meenakshi Soman and Saravanamaruthu Soundarapandi for Little Wings and more.
Atlee, who directed Shah Rukh Khan’s award-winning performance in ‘Jawan’, expressed his joy on X, writing, “Feeling blessed. I’m super-happy that you’ve got the National Award for our movie ‘Jawan’. It feels very emotional and inspiring to be part of your journey. Thank you for trusting me and giving this film, sir. It’s just my first love letter to you; a lot more to come.”
Rani Mukerji, who won Best Actress for ‘Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway’, said, “I’m overwhelmed to have won the National Award for my performance. This is the first ever National Award in my 30-year career.” She thanked the jury, her producers, director Ashima Chibber, and the entire team, calling the honour a validation of her three decades in cinema. “There is nothing like a mother’s love and her ferocity to protect her own. I realised this when I had my own child. This win, this film, feels deeply emotional and personal,” she added, dedicating the award to mothers everywhere and thanking her fans for their unwavering support.
