Zaheer Darbar – Entertainment Editor
71st National Film Awards Announced: “12th Fail” Best Film, Shah Rukh Khan and Vikrant Massey Share Best Actor, Rani Mukerji Best Actress: The winners of the 71st National Film Awards for the year 2023 were officially announced today by the respective juries in a grand ceremony. This year’s awards showcased outstanding talent across Indian cinema, recognizing achievements in feature films, non-feature films, documentaries, short films, and the AVGC category.
12th Fail emerged as the big winner, bagging the Best Feature Film award, applauded for its powerful storytelling and direction. The film’s lead actor Vikrant Massey also received the Best Actor award alongside Shah Rukh Khan, who won for his role in Jawan—marking the first National Film Award of Shah Rukh Khan’s illustrious career.
Rani Mukerji took home her first-ever National Film Award, winning Best Actress for her emotionally gripping performance in Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway. Her portrayal was praised for its depth and realism.
In the Best Supporting Actor category, the honours were shared between Vijayaraghavan and Muthupettai Somu Bhaskar, while Urvashi and Janki Bodiwala were recognised as Best Supporting Actresses for their impactful roles.
The Best Non-Feature Film award was given to Flowering Man, while the Best Documentary was awarded to God Vulture and Human—both earning their first National Film Award.
In the AVGC (Animation Visual Effects Gaming and Comics) category, the popular film Hanu-Man was declared Best Film, reinforcing the growing impact of Indian animation and VFX in mainstream cinema.
The Best Short Film honour went to Giddh The Scavenger, which stood out among stiff competition.
The announcement was made by Shri Ashutosh Gowariker (Feature Film Jury Chairperson), Shri P. Sheshadri (Non-Feature Film Jury Chairperson), and Dr. Ajay Nagabhushan MN, Joint Secretary (Films), in the presence of Ms. Mattu J. P. Singh, Director General of PIB.
This year, the National Film Awards received 332 entries in the feature film category, 115 in non-feature films, 27 books, and 16 critics’ submissions, highlighting the vibrant and diverse storytelling landscape of Indian cinema.
The complete list of the awardees is provided below
71st National Film Awards, 2023 Best Writing on Cinema
Award for Best Film Critic:
| Sr. No. | Name of Critic | Language | Medal and Cash Prize |
| 1. | Utpal Datta | Assamese | Swarna Kamal and Rs. 1,00,000/- |
71st National Film Awards, 2023 Non-Feature Films Section
| S. No. | Category of Award | Title of the Film | Awardee | Medal & Cash Prize |
| 1. | Best Non-Feature Film | Flowering Man(Hindi) | Producer: Film and Television Institute of India Director: Soumyajit Ghosh Dastidar | Swarna KamalRs. 3,00,000/- (each) |
| 2. | Best Debut Film of A Director | Mau: The Spirit Dreams of Cheraw(Mizo) | Director: Shilpika Bordoloi | Swarna Kamal Rs. 3,00,000/- |
| 3. | Best Biographical / Historical Reconstruction / Compilation Film | Mo Bou, Mo Gaan (Odia) | Producer: Kicksy Wicksy Films RNV 1820 FilmsDirector: Subash Sahoo | Rajat Kamal Rs 2,00,000/-(Shared) |
| Lentina Ao – A Light on the Eastern Horizon(English) | Producer: NFDCDirector: Sanjib Parasar | |||
| 4. | Best Arts / Culture Film | Timeless Tamil Nadu(English) | Producer: Celebrities Management Private LimitedDirector: Kamakhya Narayan Singh | Rajat Kamal Rs 2,00,000/- (each) |
| 5. | Best Documentary | God Vulture and Human(English, Hindi & Telugu) | Producer: Studio Lichi Dr. Rajesh ChandwaniDirector: Rishiraj Agarwal | Rajat Kamal Rs 2,00,000/- (each) |
| 6. | Best Non-Feature Film Promoting Social and Environmental Values | The Silent Epidemic(Hindi) | Producer: Cinema4good Pvt Ltd Raahgiri FoundationDirector: Akshat Gupta | Rajat Kamal Rs 2,00,000/- (each) |
| 7. | Best Short Film (Up to 30 Min) | Giddh The Scavenger(Hindi) | Producer: Ellanar FilmsDirector: Manish Saini | Rajat Kamal Rs 2,00,000/- (each) |
| 8. | Best Direction | The First Film(Hindi) | Director: Piyush Thakur | Swarna Kamal Rs 3,00,000/- |
| 9. | Best Cinematography | Little Wings(Tamil) | Cinematographer: SaravanamaruthuSoundarapandi & Meenakshi Soman | Rajat Kamal Rs 2,00,000/- (shared) |
| 10. | Best Sound Design | Dhundhgiri Ke Phool(Hindi) | Sound Designer: Shubharun Sengupta | Rajat Kamal Rs 2,00,000/- |
| 11. | Best Editing | Moving Focus(English) | Editor: Niladri Roy | Rajat Kamal Rs 2,00,000/- |
| 12. | Best Music Direction | The First Film(Hindi) | Music Director: Pranil Desai | Rajat Kamal Rs 2,00,000/- |
| 13. | Best Narration/ Voice Over | The Sacred Jack – Exploring The Tree of Wishes(English) | Narrator: Harikrishnan S | Rajat KamalRs 2,00,000/- |
| 14. | Best Script | Sunflowers Were The First Ones To Know… (Kannada) | Script Writer: Chidananda Naik | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- |
| 15. | Special Mention | Nekal – Chronicle of The Paddy Man (Malayalam) | Director & Producer: M K Ramadas | Certificate (each) |
| The Sea And Seven Villages (Odia) | Producer: Kadambini Media Pvt. Ltd.Director: Himansu Sekhar Khatua | Certificate (each) |
71st National Film Awards, 2023 Feature Films Section
| S. No. | Category of Award | Title of The Film | Awardee | Medal & Cash Prize |
| 1. | Best Feature Film | 12th Fail(Hindi) | Producer: VC Films LLPDirector: Vidhu Vinod Chopra | Swarna Kamal Rs. 3,00,000/- (each) |
| 2. | Best Debut Film of a Director | Aatmapamphlet (Marathi) | Director: Ashish Bende | Swarna Kamal Rs. 3,00,000/- |
| 3. | Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment | Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (Hindi) | Producer: Dharma Productions Pvt. Ltd.Director: Karan Johar | Swarna Kamal Rs. 3,00,000/- (each) |
| 4. | Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social, and Environmental Values | Sam Bahadur (Hindi) | Producer: Unilazer Ventures Private LimitedDirector: Meghna Gulzar | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- (each) |
| 5. | Best Children’s Film | Naal 2 (Marathi) | Producer: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. Aatpat ProductionsDirector: Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti | Swarna Kamal Rs. 3,00,000/- (each) |
| 6. | Best Film in AVGC(Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming & Comic) | Hanu-Man (Telugu) | Producer: Primeshow Entertainment Pvt LtdDirector: Prasanth Varma | Swarna Kamal Rs. 3,00,000/- (each) |
| Animator: Jetty Venkat Kumar | Swarna KamalRs. 3,00,000/- | |||
| VFX Supervisor: Jetty Venkat Kumar | Rajat KamalRs. 2,00,000/- | |||
| 7. | Best Direction | The Kerala Story (Hindi) | Director: Sudipto Sen | Swarna Kamal Rs. 3,00,000/- |
| 8. | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Jawan (Hindi) | Actor: Shah Rukh Khan | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/-(Shared) |
| 12th Fail (Hindi) | Actor: Vikrant Massey | |||
| 9. | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Mrs. Chatterjee V/s Norway (Hindi) | Actress: Rani Mukerji | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- |
| 10. | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Pookkaalam (Malayalam) | Supporting Actor: Vijayaraghavan | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/-(Shared) |
| Parking (Tamil) | Supporting Actor: Muthupettai Somu Bhaskar | |||
| 11. | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Ullozhukku(Malayalam) | Supporting Actress: Urvashi | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- (Shared) |
| Vash(Gujarati) | Supporting Actress: Janki Bodiwala | |||
| 12. | Best Child Artist | Gandhi Tatha Chettu (Telugu) | Child Artist: Sukriti Veni Bandreddi | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- (Shared) |
| Gypsy (Marathi) | Child Artist: Kabir Khandare | |||
| Naal 2 (Marathi) | Child Artist: Treesha Thosar, Shrinivas Pokale & Bhargav Jagtap | |||
| 13. | Best Male Playback Singer | Baby (Premisthunna)(Telugu) | Singer: PVN S Rohit | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- |
| 14. | Best Female Playback Singer | Jawan (Chaliya) (Hindi) | Singer: Shilpa Rao | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- |
| 15. | Best Cinematography | The Kerala Story (Hindi) | Cinematographer: Prasantanu Mohapatra | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- |
| 16. | Best Screenplay | Baby (Telugu) | Screenplay Writer (Original): Sai Rajesh Neelam | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- (Shared) |
| Parking (Tamil) | Screenplay Writer (Original): Ramkumar Balakrishnan | |||
| Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai (Hindi) | Dialogue Writer: Deepak Kingrani | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- | ||
| 17. | Best Sound Design | Animal (Hindi) | Sound Designer: Sachin Sudhakaran Hariharan Muralidharan | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- (Shared) |
| 18. | Best Editing | Pookkaalam(Malayalam) | Editor: Midhun Murali | Rajat KamalRs. 2,00,000/- |
| 19. | Best Production Design | 2018-Everyone Is A Hero(Malayalam) | Production Designer: Mohandas | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- |
| 20. | Best Costume Designer | Sam Bahadur (Hindi) | Costume Designer: Sachin Lovalekar, Divvya Gambhir, and Nidhhi Gambhir | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- (Shared) |
| 21. | Best Make-up | Sam Bahadur (Hindi) | Make-up Artist: Shrikant Desai | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- |
| 22. | Best Music Direction | Vaathi (Tamil) | Music Director (Songs): G V Prakash Kumar | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- |
| Animal (Hindi) | Music Director (Background Music): Harshavardhan Rameshwar | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- | ||
| 23. | Best Lyrics | Balagam (Ooru Palleturu) (Telugu) | Lyricist: Kasarla Shyam | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- |
| 24. | Best Choreography | Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (Dhindhora Baje Re) (Hindi) | Choreographer: Vaibhavi Merchant | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- |
| 25. | Best Action Direction Award (Stunt Choreography) | Hanu-Man (Telugu) | Stunt Choreographer: Nandu Prudhvi | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- (Shared) |
| Best Feature Film in each of thelanguage specified in theSchedule VIII of the Constitution | ||||
| 26. | Best Assamese Film | Rongatapu 1982 | Producer: BRC Cine Production Director: Adityam Saikia | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- (each) |
| 27. | Best Bengali Film | Deep Fridge | Producer: Colors of Dream Entertainment Director: Arjun Dutta | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- (each) |
| 28. | Best Gujarati Film | Vash | Producer: Big Box Series Pvt Ltd K S Entertainment LLP Director: Krishnadev Yagnik | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- (each) |
| 29. | Best Hindi Film | Kathal: A Jackfruit Mystery | Producer: Netflix Entertainment Services Pvt. Ltd.Balaji Telefilms LtdSikhya Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. Director: Yashowardhan Mishra | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- (each) |
| 30. | Best Kannada Film | Kandeelu – The Ray of Hope | Producer: Swastik Entertainment Director: K Yashoda Prakash | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- (each) |
| 31. | Best Malayalam Film | Ullozhukku (Undercurrent) | Producer: Unnilazer Ventures Pvt Ltd Macguffin Pictures Director: Christo Tomy | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- (each) |
| 32 | Best Marathi Film | Shyamchi Aai | Producer: Amruta Films Director: Sujay Sunil Dahake | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- (each) |
| 33. | Best Odia Film | Pushkara | Producer: Tarang Cine Productions Director: Subhransu Das | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- (each) |
| 34. | Best Punjabi Film | Godday Godday Chaa | Producer: VH Entertainment Zee Studios Director: Vijay Kumar Arora | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- (each) |
| 35. | Best Tamil Film | Parking | Producer: Soldiers Factory Passion Studio Director: Ramkumar Balakrishnan | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- (each) |
| 36. | Best Telugu Film | Bhagavanth Kesari (I Don’t Care) | Producer: Shine Screens (India) LLP Director: Anil Ravipudi | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- (each) |
| Best Feature Film in each of theLanguages other than those specified inSchedule VIII of the Constitution | ||||
| 37. | Best Garo Film | Rimdogittanga | Producer: Anna Films Uncombed Buddha Joicy Studio Director: Dominic Megam Sangma | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- (each) |
| 39. | Best Tai Phake Film | Pai TangStep Of Hope | Producer: Naba Kumar Bhuyan Director: Prabal Khaund | Rajat Kamal Rs. 2,00,000/- (each) |
| 40. | Special Mention | Animal (Re-Recording Mixer) (Hindi) | M R Rajakrishnan | Certificate |
71st National Film Awards, 2023 Jury
FEATURE FILMS JURY
| CENTRAL PANEL | |
| S. No. | Name of the Jury |
| Sh. Ashutosh Gowariker (Chairperson) | |
| Sh. M N Swamy (Member) | |
| Ms. Geeta M. Gurappa (Member) | |
| Dr. V N Aditya (Member) | |
| Sh. Aneesh Basu (Member) | |
| Sh. Paresh Vora (Member) | |
| Sh. Sushil Rajpal (Member) | |
| Sh. Vivek Pratap (Member) | |
| Sh. Pradeep Nair (Member) | |
| Sh. Maniram Singh (Member) | |
| Ms. Prakruti Mishra (Member) | |
Regional Jury
| NORTH PANEL | |
| S. No. | Name of the Jury |
| Sh. Jose Antony Palackapillil (Chairperson) | |
| Sh. Chethan Mundadi (Member) | |
| Sh. Kamlesh Kumar Mishra (Member) | |
| Sh. Niraj Kumar Mishra (Member) | |
| Sh. Pramod Kumar (Member) | |
| EAST PANEL | |
| S. No. | Name of the Jury |
| Sh. Shivadhvaj Shetty (Chairperson) | |
| Dr. Bobby Sarma Baruah (Member) | |
| Sh. Oinam Doren (Member) | |
| Sh. Sukumar Nandlal Jatania (Member) | |
| 5 | Sh. Tushar Kanti Bandyopadhyay (Member) |
| WEST PANEL | |
| S.No. | Name of the Jury |
| Sh. Tushar Hiranandani (Chairperson) | |
| Ms. Chirantana Bhatt (Member) | |
| Sh. Mandar Talauliker (Member) | |
| Sh. Praveen Morchhale (Member) | |
| Sh. Shivaji Lotan Patil (Member) | |
| SOUTH I PANEL | |
| S.No. | Name of the Jury |
| Sh. Abhijeet Shirish Deshpande (Chairperson) | |
| Sh. Manoj C D (Member) | |
| Ms. Aparnaa Singh (Member) | |
| Sh. Selvanarayanan I (Member) | |
| Sh. S Rajasekharan (Member) | |
| SOUTH II PANEL | |
| S.No. | Name of the Jury |
| Sh. Malay Ray (Chairperson) | |
| Sh. Raghunandan B R (Member) | |
| Ms. Runa Bhutda (Member) | |
| Sh. Y K Gulavadi (Member) | |
| Sh. Satish Varma Mandapati (Member) | |
NON-FEATURE FILMS JURY
| S.No. | Name of the Jury |
| Sh. P Sheshadri (Chairperson) | |
| Ms. Pankaja Thakur (Member) | |
| Sh. Atul Gangwar (Member) | |
| Ms. Srishti Lakhera (Member) | |
| Sh. K S Selvaraj (Member) | |
| Ms. Olivia Das (Member) | |
| Sh. Jaicheng Xai Dohutia (Member) |
BEST WRITING ON CINEMA JURY
| Sh. Gopalkrishna Pai (Chairperson) | |
| Sh. Ashok Palit (Member) | |
| Sh. Vinod Anupam (Member) |
Prior to the announcement, the Jury of the 71st National Film Awards formally submitted the list of awardees to Union Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw and Minister of State Dr. L. Murugan.
