The 66th National Film Awards ceremony was the award ceremony which took place in 2019 to honour the best films of 2018, in the Indian cinema. The declaration of awards was delayed due to 2019 Indian general election.[1][2]
Selection process
The Directorate of Film Festivals invited online entries and the acceptable last date for entries was until 22 January 2019. Feature and Non-Feature Films certified by Central Board of Film Certification between 1 January 2018, and 31 December 2018, 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 2018, and 31 December 2018, 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.[3]
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.[3]
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 Members
| Template:• Ramesh Sippy Template:Small |
| Template:• Vivek Agnihotri |
| Template:• Uday Singh |
| Award | Name of State | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Best Film Friendly State | State of Uttarakhand | For furthering the growth of the film industry in the State including creating an environment for ease of filming in the State, encouraging skill/talent development, incentivizing the re-opening of closed cinema halls, formation of film development fund, continuing with the earlier incentive plan for filming, formation of Utttarakhand Film Development Council among other pro active initiatives. |
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.[4] The recipient is awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', cash prize, and a shawl.
| Award | Image | Awardee(s) | Awarded As | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dadasaheb Phalke Award | 
|
Amitabh Bachchan | Actor | Template:INRConvert |
Feature Films
Jury
For the Feature Film section, six committees were formed based on the different geographic regions in India. The two-tier evaluation process included a central committee and five regional committees. The central committee, headed by the director Priyadarshan, included the heads of each regional committee and five other jury members. At regional level, each committee consisted of one chief and four members. The chief and one non-chief member of each regional committee were selected from outside that geographic region. The table below names the jury members for the central and regional committees:
Central Jury
| Template:• Priyadarshan (Chairperson) | |
| Template:• Rajdutt | Template:• Sabyasachi Mohapatra |
| Template:• K. Vasu | Template:• Archana R. Singh |
| Template:• Vijayakrishnan | Template:• Major Ravi |
| Template:• Imo Singh | Template:• Vinod Ganatra |
| Template:• B. S. Lingadevaru | Template:• Ashok Rane |
Northern Region: Template:Small
| Template:• Major Ravi (Head) | |
| Template:• Kuldip Sinha | Template:• Rahul Solapurkar |
| Template:• Ashok Sharan | Template:• Devendra Khandelwal |
Eastern Region: Template:Small
| Template:• Vinod Ganatra (Head) | |
| Template:• Monalisa Mukherjee | Template:• Namasrri |
| Template:• Akashaditya Lama | Template:• Suraj Kumar Duwarah |
Western Region: Template:Small
| Template:• B. S. Lingadevaru (Head) | |
| Template:• Gyan Sahay | Template:• Mahendra Teredesai |
| Template:• Parag Chhapekar | Template:• Neeraj Pathak |
Southern Region I: Template:Small
| Template:• Ashok Rane (Head) | |
| Template:• B. Divaker | Template:• A. Karthik Raja |
| Template:• Jayaram Kailas | Template:• Shailesh Gupta |
Southern Region II: Template:Small
| Template:• Imo Singh (Head) | |
| Template:• Malti Sahay | Template:• M. K. Bhaskara Rao |
| Template:• S. M. Patil | Template:• B. Ramani |
All India Award
Golden Lotus Awards
Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
| Award | Film | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Feature Film | Hellaro | Gujarati | Producer: Saarthi Productions LLP Director: Abhishek Shah |
Template:INR 250,000/- each |
| Best Debut Film of a Director | Naal | Marathi | Producer: Mrudhgandh Films LLP Director: Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti |
Template:INR 125,000/- each |
| Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment | Badhaai Ho | Hindi | Producer: Junglee Pictures Limited Director: Amit Sharma |
Template:INR 200,000/- each |
| Best Children's Film | Sarkari Hi. Pra. Shaale, Kasaragodu, Koduge: Ramanna Rai | Kannada | Producer & Director: Rishab Shetty | Template:INR 150,000/- each |
| Best Direction | Uri: The Surgical Strike | Hindi | Aditya Dhar | Template:INR 250,000/- |
Silver Lotus Award
Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
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.
- Best Feature Film in Each of the Language Other Than Those Specified In the Schedule VIII of the Constitution
| Award | Film | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Producer | Director | |||
| Best Feature Film in Pangchenpa | In The Land Of Poison Women | Aaas Productions | Manju Borah | Template:INR 1,00,000/- each |
| Best Feature Film in Rajasthani | Turtle | Shivazza Films & Entertainment | Dinesh S Yadav | Template:INR 1,00,000/- each |
| Best Feature Film in Garo | MA’AMA | Anna Films | Dominic Sangma | Template:INR 1,00,000/- each |
| Best Feature Film in Sherdukpen | Mishing | BB Entertainment Trade Private Limited | Bobby Sarma Baruah | Template:INR 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
A committee of seven, headed by cinematographer A. S. Kanal, was appointed to evaluate the Non-Feature Films entries. The jury members were:
| Template:• A. S. Kanal (Chairperson) | |
| Template:• Dhvani Desai | Template:• Rajendra Mohapatra |
| Template:• Chetan Mathur | Template:• B. R. Srivatsa |
| Template:• Vandana Kohli | Template:• Atul Gangawar |
Golden Lotus Award
Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
| Award | Film | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Non-Feature Film | Son Rise & The Secret Life of Frogs | Vibha Bakshi
Ajay Bedi & Vijay Bedi |
Template:INR 150,000/- each | |
| Best Director in Non-Feature Film | Feluda: 50 Years of Ray's Detective | Bengali | Sagnik Chatterjee | Template:INR 150,000/- |
Silver Lotus Award
Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the Awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)' and cash prize.
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:
| Template:• Utpal Borpujari (Chairperson) | |
| Template:• Mohan Raman | Template:• Yatindra Mishra |
Golden Lotus Award
Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with the Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal) accompanied with a cash prize.
| Award | Book | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Book on Cinema | Mouna Prathanapole | Malayalam | Publisher: Kerala State Chalachitra Academy Author: S. Jayachandran Nair |
Template:INR 75,000/- each |
| Best Film Critic | N/A | Template:•Malayalam Template:•Hindi |
Template:•Blais Johnny Template:•Anant Vijay |
Template:INR 75,000/- |
| Special Mention | In A Cult Of Their Own: Bollywood Beyond Box Office | English | Amborish Roychoudhury | Certificate Only |
References
- ↑ The Economic Times(24 April 2019). Retrieved 26 April 2019.
- ↑ Template:Cite press release
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Call for entries; 66th National Film Awards for 2018. Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- ↑ 17th National Film Awards. Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 2 September 2020.