The 64th National Film Awards was an award ceremony during which the Directorate of Film Festivals presented its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2016 in Indian cinema. The awards were announced on 7 April 2017, and the award ceremony was held on 3 May 2017.
Selection process The Directorate of Film Festivals invited online entries for the first time on 16 January 2017 and the acceptable last date for entries was until 21 January 2017. Feature and Non-Feature Films certified by the Central Board of Film Certification between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2016 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 2016, and 31 December 2016, 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.
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.
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 Madhur Bhandarkar Kaushik Ganguly Radhakrishna Jagarlamudi Mohan Kanda
AwardName of StateCitationBest Film Friendly StateState of Uttar Pradesh For implementing a unique film policy, taking into account that the film medium is not only about entertainment but is also a very important vehicle of employment, social awareness and cultural development. The State's Film Policy includes various measures to create a suitable environment, which not only invites shooting of films on a large scale in the State but also promotes other activities, which are related to various aspects of film production at the ground level, including financial incentives for filmmakers.Best Film Friendly State – Special Mention State of Jharkhand To foster the film Industry and their endeavour to give incentives to filmmakers from across India. In addition to the above, the Film Policy also provides growth opportunities to the local filmmaking talent from within the State.
Golden Lotus Award Official name: Swarna Kamal
All awardees weee awarded with the 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)'.
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."
A committee consisting five eminent personalities from Indian film industry was appointed to evaluate the lifetime achievement award, Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Following were the jury members:
Jury members Manoj Kumar Asha Bhosle T. S. Nagabharana Kamal Haasan S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
Name of AwardImageAwardee(s)Awarded AsAwardsDadasaheb Phalke Award K. Viswanath FilmmakerSwarna Kamal, and a shawl
Feature films
Feature films will be awarded at All India as well as regional level. Following will be the awards given in each category:
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
Priyadarshan (Chairperson) N. Chandra Vasant S. Sai K. J. Suresh Imo Singh Girish Mohite Deboshruti Roy Chowdhury C. V. Reddy P. C. Reddy Ashok Rane Devdas Chhottrey
Northern region:
K. J. Suresh (Head) Rakesh Mittal Advaita Kala C. Umamaheswara Rao S. S. Bhakhoo
Eastern region:
Shyamaprasad (Head) Sanjeev Hazarika Tanushree Hazarika Girish Mohite Jagora Bandyopadhyay
Western region:
N. Chandra (Head) Sanjay Pawar B. Diwakar Pramod Pawar Gopi Desai
Southern region I:
Imo Singh (Head) R. S. Vimal Balaji Sakthivel Suresh Chandra Priya Krishnaswamy
Southern region II:
Vasant S. Sai (Head) G. Bhageeradha K. S. Ramesh H. N. Maruthi Aslam Sheikh
All India Award
Following will be the awards given:
Golden Lotus Award
Official name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees were awarded with the 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
Name of AwardName of FilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizeBest Feature FilmKaasav MarathiDirector(s): Sumitra Bhave–Sunil SukthankarProducer(s): Sumitra Bhave–Sunil SukthankarMohan Agashe 250,000/- EachBest Debut Film of a DirectorAlifaBengaliDirector: Deep ChoudhuryProducer: Arman Ahmed 125,000/- EachBest Popular Film Providing Wholesome EntertainmentSathamanam BhavatiTelugu Producer: V. Venkata Ramana ReddyDirector: Satish Vegesna 200,000/- EachBest Children's FilmDhanakHindi Director: Nagesh KukunoorProducer: Drishyam Films 150,000/- EachBest DirectionVentilatorMarathiRajesh Mapuskar 250,000/-Best Animated FilmMahayodha RamaHindiProducer: Contiloe Pictures Pvt. Ltd. Director: Rohit Vaid Animator: Deepak S. V. 100,000/- Each
Silver Lotus Award
Official name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees were awarded with the 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
Name of AwardName of FilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizeBest Feature Film on National Integration Dikchow Banat Palaax Assamese Producer: CanvascopeDirector: Sanjib Sabha Pandit 150,000/- EachBest Film on Other Social IssuesPink Hindi Producer: Rashmi Sharma FilmsDirector: Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury 150,000/- EachBest Film on Environment/Conservation/Preservation Loktak Lairembee Manipuri Producer and Director: Haobam Paban Kumar 150,000/- EachBest ActorRustomHindiAkshay Kumar 50,000/-Best ActressMinnaminunguMalayalamSurabhi Lakshmi 50,000/-Best Supporting ActorDashakriyaMarathiManoj Joshi 50,000/-Best Supporting Actress Dangal HindiZaira Wasim 50,000/-Best Child Artist Railway Children Kannada Manohara K 50,000/- (Cash component to be shared) Sahaj Paather Gappo Bengali Nur IslamSamiul Alam Kunju Daivam Malayalam Adish PraveenBest Male Playback SingerJoker TamilSundarayyar 50,000/-Best Female Playback SingerPraktan BengaliIman Chakraborty 50,000/-Best Cinematography 24 Tamil Tirru 50,000/-Best ScreenplayMaheshinte PrathikaaramMalayalamSyam Pushkaran 50,000/-Best ScreenplayDashakriyaMarathiSanjay Krishnaji Patil 50,000/-Best ScreenplayPelli Choopulu Telugu Tharun Bhascker Dhaassyam 50,000/-Best Audiography Kaadu Pookkunna Neram Malayalam Jayadevan Chakka Dath 50,000/-Best AudiographyVentilator Marathi Alok De 50,000/-Best EditingVentilatorMarathiRameshwar S. Bhagat 50,000/-Best Production Design24Tamil Subrata Chakraborthy Shreyas Khedekar Amit Ray 50,000/-Best Costume DesignCycleMarathi Sachin Lovalekar 50,000/-Best Make-up Artist Allama Kannada N. K. Ramakrishna 50,000/-Best Music Direction Allama Kannada Bapu Padmanabha 50,000/-Best Music Direction Allama Kannada Bapu Padmanabha 50,000/- Best Lyrics Praktan Bengali Anupam Roy 50,000/- (Cash Component To Be Shared)Dharma Durai Tamil VairamuthuBest Special EffectsShivaay Hindi Naveen Paul 50,000/-Best Choreography Janatha Garage Telugu Raju Sundaram 50,000/- Best Stunt Choreographer Pulimurugan Malayalam Peter Hein 50,000/-Special Jury Award Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbol Janatha Garage Pulimurugan MalayalamTeluguMalayalam Mohanlal 200,000/-Special Mention Kadvi Hawa Hindi Producer: Eleeanora Images Private Ltd.Director: Nila Madhab PandaCertificate only Mukti Bhawan Hindi Producer: Red Carpet Moving PicturesDirector: Shubhashish Bhutiani Mukti Bhawan Maj Rati Keteki Hindi Assamese Adil Hussain Neerja Hindi Sonam Kapoor
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.
Name of AwardName of FilmAwardee(s)Cash prizeProducer(s)DirectorBest Feature Film in AssameseMaj Rati KetekiUdara FilmsSantwana Bardoloi 100,000/- EachBest Feature Film in BengaliBisarjanM/s OperaKaushik Ganguly 100,000/- EachBest Feature Film in GujaratiWrong Side RajuCineman Productions Ltd.Mikhil Musale 100,000/- EachBest Feature Film in Hindi NeerjaFox Star Studios India Pvt. Ltd.Ram Madhvani 100,000/- EachBest Feature Film in Kannada ReservationThotadamaneNikhil Manjoo 100,000/- EachBest Feature Film in KonkaniK Sera Sera – Ghodpachem Ghoddtelemde Goan StudioRajiv Shinde 100,000/- EachBest Feature Film in MalayalamMaheshinte PrathikaaramDream Mill Cinemas and Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.Dileesh Pothan 100,000/- EachBest Feature Film in MarathiDashakriyaRangneel CreationsSandeep Bhalachandra Patil 100,000/- EachBest Feature Film in TamilJokerDream Warrior PicturesRaju Murugan 100,000/- EachBest Feature Film in TeluguPelli ChoopuluDharamapatha Creations and Big Ben CinemasTharun Bhascker Dhaassyam 100,000/- Each
Best Feature Film in Each of the Language Other Than Those Specified in the Schedule VIII of the Constitution Name of AwardName of FilmAwardee(s)Cash prizeProducerDirector Best Feature Film in MoranHaanduk Mayamara Production Jaicheng Jai Dohutia 100,000/- EachBest Feature Film in TuluMadipu Aastha Production Chethan Mundadi 100,000/- 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 Raju Mishra, was appointed to evaluate the Non-Feature Films entries. The jury members were:
Raju Mishra (Chairperson) Ashok Sharan M. C. Rajanarayanan M. Maniram Sanjeev Ratan Preethi Tripathi Sushmit Ghosh
Golden Lotus Award
Official name: Swarna Kamal
All awardees were awarded with the 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
Name of AwardName of FilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizeBest Non-Feature Film Fireflies in the Abyss EnglishProducer: Chandrasekhar ReddyDirector: Chandrasekhar Reddy 100,000/- EachBest Director in Non-Feature Film Aaba... Aiktaay Na? MarathiProducer: Shri Mahalasa Productions PondaDirector: Aaditya Jambhale 150,000/- to the Director
Silver Lotus Award
Official name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees were awarded with the 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)' and cash prize.