Nawraj at 21:01, 20 January 2026

2026-01-20T21:01:26Z

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{{Short description|Indian ceremony celebrating cinema of 1972}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox film awards
| number = 20
| award = National Film Awards
| image = 20th NFA.png
| alt =
| caption = 20th National Film Awards
| awarded_for = Best of Indian cinema in 1972
| award_org = [[Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India)|Ministry of Information and Broadcasting]]
| presenting_org =
| announced_date =
| presented_date =
| site =
| host =
| website = [http://dff.nic.in/ dff.nic.in]
| lifetime_achievement = [[Pankaj Kumar Mullick]]
| best_feature = ''[[Swayamvaram (1972 film)|Swayamvaram]]''
| best_non_feature =
| most_wins = ''Swayamvaram'' (4)
| last = 19th
| next = 21st
}}

The '''20th [[National Film Awards]]''', presented by [[Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India)|Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India]] to felicitate the best of [[Cinema of India|Indian Cinema]] released in the year 1972.<ref name="20thaward">{{cite web|url=http://dff.nic.in/images/Documents/96_20thNfacatalogue.pdf|title=20th National Film Awards|publisher=Directorate of Film Festivals|access-date=2 September 2020|archive-date=25 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725173838/http://dff.nic.in/images/Documents/96_20thNfacatalogue.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

With this year, new award category is introduced for the feature films made in [[Meitei language]]. This newly introduced category includes [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Manipuri|President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Manipuri]].<ref name="20thaward"/>

== Juries ==

Six different committees were formed based on the film making sectors in India, mainly based in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras along with the central committee for all India level. For 20th National Film Awards, central committee was headed by [[Romesh Thapar]].<ref name="20thaward"/>

* '''Jury Members: Central'''
** [[Romesh Thapar]] ([[Chairman|Chairperson]]){{•}}[[Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai]]{{•}}Rita Ray{{•}}Sheila Vats{{•}}Usha Bhagat{{•}}[[Girish Karnad]] {{small|(Not Attended)}}{{•}}M. Yunus Dehlvi{{•}}[[Teji Bachchan]]{{•}}[[Phanishwar Nath 'Renu']]{{•}}[[Shanta Gandhi]]{{•}}[[U. Visweswar Rao]]{{•}}[[I. S. Johar]] {{small|(Not Attended)}}{{•}}Ardhendu Mukerjee
* '''Jury Members: Short Films'''
** S. K. Kooka ([[Chairman|Chairperson]]){{•}}[[Bhagwan Das Garga|B. D. Garga]]{{•}}Prasanta Sanyal{{•}}[[Gerson da Cunha|Gerson Da Cunha]]{{•}}[[Aruna Vasudev|Aruna Vasudeva]]{{•}}[[Bishamber Khanna]]{{•}}Revati Saran Sharma{{•}}Din Dayal
* '''Jury Regional: Bombay'''
** [[Ali Sardar Jafri]] ([[Chairman|Chairperson]]){{•}}[[Mrinalini Sarabhai]]{{•}}[[Charles Correa]]{{•}}Bikram Singh{{•}}Bhupendra Shah {{•}}Gopinath Talwalkar{{•}}D. G. Nadkarni{{•}}Kumud Mehta{{•}}[[Adi Pherozeshah Marzban|Adi Marzban]]{{•}}P. K. Ravindranath{{•}}B. K. Adarsh{{•}}[[Atma Ram (director)|Atma Ram]]{{•}}G. P. Shirke{{•}}[[Kamleshwar (writer)|Kamleshwar]]
* '''Jury Regional: Calcutta'''
** [[Sombhu Mitra]] ([[Chairman|Chairperson]]){{•}}Amina Kar{{•}}[[Suchitra Mitra]]{{•}}Sanat Lahiri{{•}}N. K. Ghosh{{•}}Bhaben Barua{{•}}Ramesh Chandra Dhall{{•}}[[Ananda Shankar]]{{•}}[[Badal Sarkar]]{{•}}[[B. N. Sircar]]
* '''''Jury Regional: Calcutta - Nominated'''''
** Parimal Sarkar{{•}}[[Kanan Devi]]{{•}}Subodh Mitra{{•}}[[Elangbam Nilakanta Singh]]{{•}}[[M. K. Binodini Devi|Maharaj Kumari Binodini Devi]]
* '''Jury Regional: Madras'''
** [[Malcolm Adiseshiah]] ([[Chairman|Chairperson]]){{•}}[[B. N. Reddy]]{{•}}A. L. Velliappa{{•}}Mahmooda Haja Shareef{{•}}S. Ananthamurthy{{•}}Thoppil Ravi{{•}}V. C. Subburaman{{•}}[[P. S. Ramakrishna Rao]]{{•}}K. P. Kottarakkara{{•}}Rajammal Anantharaman{{•}}P. C. Mathew

== Awards ==

Awards were divided into feature films and non-feature films.

President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film is now better known as [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film]], whereas President's Gold Medal for the Best Documentary Film is analogous to today's [[National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film]]. For children's films, Prime Minister's Gold Medal is now given as [[National Film Award for Best Children's Film]]. At the regional level, President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film is now given as National Film Award for Best Feature Film in a particular language. Certificate of Merit in all the categories is discontinued over the years.

=== Lifetime Achievement Award ===

{|class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"
|-
!style="background-color:#EFE4B0;"|Name of Award
!style="background-color:#EFE4B0;"|Image
!style="background-color:#EFE4B0;"|Awardee(s)
!style="background-color:#EFE4B0;"|Awarded As
!style="background-color:#EFE4B0;"|Awards
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[Dadasaheb Phalke Award]]
|[[File:Pankaj Mullick 2006 stamp of India.jpg|75px]]
|[[Pankaj Mullick]]
|[[Music director|Music Director]]
|{{INR}}11,000, a shawl and a plaque
|}

=== Feature films ===

Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For 20th National Film Awards, a [[Malayalam cinema|Malayalam film]] ''[[Swayamvaram (1972 film)|Swayamvaram]]'' won the [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film|President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film]] along with winning the maximum number of awards (four). Following were the awards given in each category:<ref name="20thaward"/>

==== All India Award ====

Following were the awards given:<ref name="20thaward"/>

{|class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%;"
|-
!style="background-color:#EFE4B0;width:34%;"|Award
!style="background-color:#EFE4B0;width:21%;"|Film
!style="background-color:#EFE4B0;width:7%;"|Language
!style="background-color:#EFE4B0;width:22%;"|Awardee(s)
!style="background-color:#EFE4B0;width:16%;"|Cash prize
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|rowspan="2"|[[National Film Award for Best Feature Film|Best Feature Film]]
|rowspan="2"|''[[Swayamvaram (1972 film)|Swayamvaram]]''
|rowspan="2"|[[Malayalam language|Malayalam]]
|[[Film producer|Producer]]: Kulathoor Bhaskaran Nair
|Gold Medal and {{INR}}40,000
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[Film director|Director]]: [[Adoor Gopalakrishnan]]
|{{INR}}10,000 and a plaque
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|rowspan="2"|[[National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film|Second Best Feature Film]]
|rowspan="2"|''[[Calcutta 71]]''
|rowspan="2"|[[Bengali language|Bengali]]
|Producer: D. S. Sultania
|{{INR}}15,000 and a medal
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|Director: [[Mrinal Sen]]
|{{INR}}5,000 and a plaque
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|rowspan="2"|[[Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration|Best Feature Film on National Integration]]
|rowspan="2"|''[[Achanum Bappayum]]''
|rowspan="2"|Malayalam
|Producer: C. C. Baby
|{{INR}}30,000 and a medal
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|Director: [[K. S. Sethumadhavan]]
|{{INR}}10,000 and a plaque
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[National Film Award for Best Direction|Best Direction]]
|''[[Swayamvaram (1972 film)|Swayamvaram]]''
|Malayalam
|[[Adoor Gopalakrishnan]]
|{{INR}} 5,000 and a plaque
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[National Film Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]] ([[Black-and-white|Black and White]])
|''[[Swayamvaram (1972 film)|Swayamvaram]]''
|Malayalam
|[[Mankada Ravi Varma]]
|{{INR}}5,000 and a plaque
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[National Film Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]] ([[Color motion picture film|Color]])
|''[[Maya Darpan]]''
|[[Hindi language|Hindi]]
|[[K. K. Mahajan]]
|{{INR}}5,000 and a plaque
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[National Film Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]]
|''[[Koshish]]''
|Hindi
|[[Gulzar]]
|{{INR}} 5,000 and a plaque
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[National Film Award for Best Actor|Best Actor (Bharat Award)]]
|''[[Koshish]]''
|Hindi
|[[Sanjeev Kumar]]
|A figurine
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[National Film Award for Best Actress|Best Actress (Urvashi Award)]]
|''[[Swayamvaram (1972 film)|Swayamvaram]]''
|Malayalam
|[[Sharada (actress)|Sharada]]
|A figurine
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[National Film Award for Best Child Artist|Best Child Artist]]
|''[[Ranur Pratham Bhag]]''
|Bengali
|Neera Mallya
|A plaque
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer|Best Female Playback Singer]]
|''[[Parichay (film)|Parichay]]''<br/>{{small|(For the song "Beeti Naa Bitaai Raina")}}
|Hindi
|[[Lata Mangeshkar]]
|A plaque
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer|Best Male Playback Singer]]
|''[[Achanum Bappayum]]''
|Malayalam
|[[K. J. Yesudas]]
|A plaque
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[National Film Award for Best Music Direction|Best Music Direction]]
|''[[Zindagi Zindagi]]''
|Hindi
|[[Sachin Dev Burman]]
|{{INR}} 5,000 and a plaque
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[National Film Award for Best Lyrics|Lyric Writer of the Best Film Song on National Integration]]
|''[[Achanum Bappayum]]''
|Malayalam
|[[Vayalar Ramavarma]]
|{{INR}} 5,000 and a plaque
|}

==== Regional Award ====

The awards were given to the best films made in the [[Languages of India|regional languages of India]]. For feature films in [[English language|English]], [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]], [[Oriya language|Oriya]] and [[Punjabi language]], President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film was not given. The producer and director of the film were awarded with {{INR}}5,000 and a Silver medal, respectively.<ref name="20thaward"/>

{|class="wikitable sortable" style="width:90%"
|-
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="background-color:#EFE4B0;width:37%"|Award
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="background-color:#EFE4B0;width:19%"|Film
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="background-color:#EFE4B0;width:34%"|Awardee(s)
|-
!scope="col" style="background-color:#EFE4B0;" | Producer
!scope="col" style="background-color:#EFE4B0;" | Director
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Assamese|Best Feature Film in Assamese]]
|''Upaja Sonar Maati''
|M/s Pragati Cine Productions
|Brajen Barua
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali|Best Feature Film in Bengali]]
|''[[Strir Patra (film)|Strir Patra]]''
|Dhrupadi
|[[Purnendu Patri]]
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|rowspan="3"|[[Discontinued and Intermittent National Film Awards#Best Feature Film in Gujarati|Best Feature Film in Gujarati]]
|rowspan="3"|''Gun Sundarino Ghar Sansar''
|Ramesh H. Saraiya
|rowspan="3"|Govind Saraiya
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|Jayant Malaviya
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|Chandulal Gandhi
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi|Best Feature Film in Hindi]]
|''[[Maya Darpan]]''
|[[Kumar Shahani]]
|Kumar Shahani
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada|Best Feature Film in Kannada]]
|''[[Sharapanjara]]''
|C. S. Rajah
|[[Puttanna Kanagal]]
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam|Best Feature Film in Malayalam]]
|''[[Panitheeratha Veedu]]''
|K. S. R. Moorthy
|[[K. S. Sethumadhavan]]
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Manipuri|Best Feature Film in Manipuri]]
|''[[Matamgi Manipur]]''
|Karam Monomohan Singh
|Deb Kumar Bose
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Marathi|Best Feature Film in Marathi]]
|''[[Pinjra (film)|Pinjra]]''
|[[V. Shantaram]]
|V. Shantaram
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil|Best Feature Film in Tamil]]
|''[[Pattikada Pattanama]]''
|[[P. Madhavan]]
|P. Madhavan
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|[[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu|Best Feature Film in Telugu]]
|''[[Pandanti Kapuram]]''
|G. Hanumantha Rao
|[[Lakshmi Deepak]]
|}

=== Non-Feature films ===

Following were the awards given:<ref name="20thaward"/>

==== Short films ====

{|class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%;"
|-
!style="background-color:#EFE4B0;width:30%;"|Name of Award
!style="background-color:#EFE4B0;width:14.5%;"|Name of Film
!style="background-color:#EFE4B0;width:7%;"|Language
!style="background-color:#EFE4B0;width:33%;"|Awardee(s)
!style="background-color:#EFE4B0;width:15.5%;"|Awards
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|rowspan="2"|[[National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film|Best Information Film (Documentary)]]
|rowspan="2"|''[[The Inner Eye]]''
|rowspan="2"|[[English language|English]]
|Producer: [[Satyajit Ray]]
|rowspan="2"|{{INR}}5,000 and a medal
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|Director: Satyajit Ray
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|rowspan="2"|[[National Film Award for Best Film on Social Issues|Best Film on Social Documentation]]
|rowspan="2"|''Transcedence''
|rowspan="2"|English
|Producer: Pramod Patil {{small|for [[Films Division of India|Films Division]]}}
|{{INR}}5,000
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|Director: K. Vishwanath {{small|for Films Division}}
|{{INR}}2,000
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|rowspan="2"|[[National Film Award for Best Promotional Film|Best Promotional Film (Commercial)]]
|rowspan="2"|''Destination India''
|rowspan="2"|English
|Producer: Cinerad Communications
|Silver Medal
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|Director: Zafar Hai
|A plaque
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|rowspan="2"|[[National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Animation Film|Best Animation Film]]
|rowspan="2"|''You Said It''
|rowspan="2"|English
|Producer: [[Prasad Studios|Prasad Productions]]
|{{INR}}5,000
|- style="background-color:#F4F4F4"
|Director: [[Ram Mohan]]
|{{INR}}2,000
|}

=== Awards not given ===

Following were the awards not given as no film was found to be suitable for the award:<ref name="20thaward"/>

{{div col|colwidth=28em}}
* [[Discontinued and Intermittent National Film Awards#Best Story|Best Story Writer]]
* [[National Film Award for Best Film on Family Welfare|Best Film on Family Welfare]]
* [[National Film Award for Best Children's Film|Best Children's Film]]
* [[National Film Award for Best Educational/Motivational/Instructional Film|Best Educational / Instructional Film]]
* [[Discontinued and Intermittent National Film Awards#Best Experimental Film|Best Experimental Film]]
* [[National Film Award for Best Promotional Film|Best Promotional Film (Non-Commercial)]]
* [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English|President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in English]]
* [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Oriya|President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Oriya]]
* [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Punjabi|President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Punjabi]]
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://dff.nic.in/Archive.aspx National Film Awards Archives]
* [https://dff.nic.in Official Page for Directorate of Film Festivals, India]

{{National Film Awards}}

[[Category:National Film Awards (India) ceremonies]]
[[Category:1972 film awards|National Film Awards]]
[[Category:1972 in Indian cinema]]

20th National Film Awards - Revision history

Nawraj at 21:01, 20 January 2026