The 41st National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1993. Ceremony took place in 1994.
With 41st National Film Awards, a new award for Best Non-Feature Film Music Direction was introduced for non-feature films section awarded with Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus).
Awards
Awards were divided into feature films, non-feature films and books written on Indian cinema.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Name of AwardImageAwardee(s)Awarded AsAwardsDadasaheb Phalke AwardMajrooh SultanpuriLyricistSwarna Kamal, and a Shawl
Feature films
Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For 41st National Film Awards, a Bengali film, Charachar won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film whereas an Urdu film, Muhafiz along with a Malayalam film, Ponthan Mada won the maximum number of awards (4). Following were the awards given in each category:
Juries
A committee headed by T. Subbarami Reddy was appointed to evaluate the feature films awards. Following were the jury members:
Jury Members T. Subbarami Reddy (Chairperson)Gautam BoraMadhabi MukherjeeSalil ChowdhuryBidhu Bhusan DasHariharanSitakant MisraNachiket PatwardhanJ. L. RalhanB. Narsing RaoR. C. SakthiValampuri SomanathanVijaya
All India Award
Following were the awards given:
Golden Lotus Award
Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
Name of AwardName of FilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizeBest Feature FilmCharacharBengaliProducer: M/s Gope Movies Pvt Ltd. 50,000/-director: Buddhadeb Dasgupta 25,000/-Citation: For its poetic and typical representation of the eternal human longing for liberation and man's alienation from Nature.Best Debut Film of a DirectorSunya Theke SuruBengaliProducer: H. Das, Madhumanti Maitra and M. DasDirector: Ashoke Viswanathan 25,000/- EachCitation: For its creative handling of sensitive subject, exhibiting the socio-political situation of out society, spanning three decades.Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome EntertainmentManichitrathazhuMalayalamProducer: Appachan 40,000/-Director: Fazil 20,000/-Citation: For handling an unusual subject of psychological aberration in a conservative society and the ultimate acceptance of a modern approach.DarrHindiProducer: Yash Chopra 40,000/-Director: Yash Chopra 20,000/-Citation: For its convincing presentation of the theme of love, which has been rendered complex by its relationship with past experiences of fear.Best Children's FilmLavanya PreetiOriyaProducer: National Center of Films for Children and Young People 30,000/-Director: A. K. Bir 15,000/-Citation: For its subtle and delicate exposition of the growing-up process from childhood to adolescence through the use of myths and striking visuals.Best DirectionPonthan MadaMalayalamT. V. Chandran 50,000/-Citation: For a masterly rendering of a whole range of human experience into celluloid poetry.
Silver Lotus Award
Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
Name of AwardName of FilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizeBest Feature Film on National IntegrationSardarHindiProducer: Haribhai M. Patel 30,000/-Director: Ketan Mehta 15,000/-Citation: For presenting a panoramic view of India in a period of transition to reveal the goals of nationalism by the integration of a mass disparate materials and shaping them into a coherent saga of Indian nationalism in an epic style.Best Film on Family WelfareAkashadoothuMalayalamProducer: Anupama Cinema 30,000/-Director: Siby Malayil 15,000/-Citation: For the urgency of family welfare through human love and compassion.Best Film on Other Social IssuesJananiBengaliProducer: Sanat Dasgupta 30,000/-Director: Sanat Dasgupta 15,000/-Citation: For its delicate portrayal of an obscurantist practice like witchcraft, prevalent in certain parts of the country.NaaraayamMalayalamProducer: Raju Pilakat 30,000/-Director: Sasi Shanker 15,000/-Citation: For its subdued depiction of the possibilities of realising communal harmony.Best Film on Environment / Conservation / PreservationDevara KaduKannadaProducer: Pattabhirami Reddy Productions 30,000/-Director: Pattabhirami Reddy Tikkavarapu 15,000/-Citation: For presenting the two themes of "Back to Village" and "Preservation of Nature" by an imaginative use of myths and legends.Best ActorPonthan MadaVidheyanMalayalamMammootty 10,000/-Citation: For his sensitive portrayal in the film Ponthan Mada of the role of an outsider and in Vidheyan for the depiction of the relationship of power and terror at an existential level.Best ActressManichithrathazhuMalayalamShobana 10,000/-Citation: For her unusual capacity to reveal complex nuances of a variety of human emotions.Best Supporting ActorWoh ChokriSirHindiParesh Rawal 10,000/-Citation: For his performances in the films to reveal contradictory human emotions at the outer and inner levels.Best Supporting ActressWoh ChokriHindiNeena Gupta 10,000/-Citation: For a realistic portrayal of a loving mother and a betrayed wife, revealing shades of love, hate and anxiety.Best Child ArtistLavanya PreetiOriyaTarasankar Misra 5,000/-Citation: For depicting successfully the process of growing up from childhood to adolescence and the first awareness of sexuality.Best Male Playback SingerSopanamMalayalamK. J. Yesudas 10,000/-Citation: For his superb capacity to render a variety of moods by means of a rich and melodious voice, which is capable of delineating both the range and depth of human emotions.Best Female Playback SingerHum Hain Rahi Pyar KeHindiAlka Yagnik 10,000/-Citation: For her ability to identify herself with the characters and render the delicate nuances of human feelings in complex situations.Best CinematographyPonthan MadaMalayalamCameraman: VenuLaboratory Processing: Prasad Film Laboratories 10,000/- EachCitation: For the masterly use of the camera, in order to capture the feel of the background, setting, atmosphere of the subject and making use of striking visuals to communicate the theme.Best ScreenplayUttoranBengaliSatyajit Ray (Posthumously) 10,000/-Citation: For designing and structuring a screenplay from an imaginative and aesthetic angle, with a superb control over the unity of impressions.Best AudiographyMahanadhiTamilH. SridharK. M. Surya Narayan(M/s Media Artiste Pvt. Ltd) 10,000/-Citation: For their capacity to the use of technique to contribute to the total effect of the film as an audio-visual gestalt.Best EditingSardarHindiRenu Saluja 10,000/-Citation: For combining expertise with artistry in a diverse and disparate series of sequences into a memorable experience of epic cinema.Best Art DirectionMuhafizUrduSuresh Sawant 10,000/-Citation: For recreating architecture, landscape and interiors of exceptional beauty and cinematic integrity, synchronised to perfection with the thematic content of the protagonist's search for the poetry of an ailing maestro.Best Costume DesignMuhafizUrduLoveleen Bains 10,000/-Citation: For recreating an entire spectrum of costumes, representing not only the protagonist, the ageing litterateur and his closeted world, but the entire milieu of the city and the small town.Best Music DirectionPonthan MadaMalayalamJohnson 10,000/-Citation: For his music, which exhibits imagination, competence and presentation of the changing contours of music from traditional to modern styles.Best LyricsMathru Devo BhavaTeluguVeturi 10,000/-Citation: For his lyric "Raalipoye Puvva", which demonstrates his poetic imagination, enriched by his deep experience of life and a consequential competence in using language with felicity.Best Special EffectsThiruda ThirudaTamilSethu 10,000/-Citation: For professional and apt handling of spectacular scenes on a large scale, contributing significantly to the overall impact of the film.Best ChoreographyThiruda ThirudaTamilSundaram 10,000/-Citation: For the orchestration of scores of dancers in unison, with massive sets, stunning light effects and foot thumping music.Special Jury AwardMuhafizUrduShashi Kapoor 25,000/- EachCitation: For a sensitive portrayal of the feeling of the poet, who is a representative of a dying humanistic culture, in course of which the life of imagination is undermined by the pressure of materialistic values.Woh ChokriHindiPallavi JoshiCitation: For enacting competently and realistically, a whole gamut of experiences and emotions, embracing a women's life from childhood to adulthood.Special MentionHum Hain Rahi Pyar KeHindiTahir Hussain (Producer)Mahesh Bhatt (Director)Certificate OnlyCitation: For an enjoyable and wholesome entertainment at the level of innocent comedy.Indradhanura ChhaiOriyaJugal Debata (Producer)Susant Mishra (Director)Citation: For their film, a sensitive exploration of a woman's experience of loneliness in the context of the inexorable passage of time, culminating on a positive note of redemption through symbolic images.
Regional Awards
The award is given to best film in the regional languages in India.