The 66th National Film Awards ceremony was the award ceremony which took place in 2019 to honour the best films of 2018 in Indian cinema. The declaration of awards was delayed due to the 2019 Indian general election.
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 the 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.
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 Ramesh Sippy Vivek Agnihotri Uday Singh
AwardName of StateCitationBest Film Friendly StateState 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. The recipient is awarded with the 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', cash prize, and a shawl.
AwardImageAwardee(s)Awarded AsCash prizeDadasaheb Phalke Award Amitabh Bachchan Actor
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
Rahul Rawail (Chairperson) Rajdutt Sabyasachi Mohapatra K. Vasu Archana R. Singh Vijayakrishnan Major Ravi Imo Singh Vinod Ganatra B. S. Lingadevaru Ashok Rane
Northern Region:
Major Ravi (Head) Kuldip Sinha Rahul Solapurkar Ashok Sharan Devendra Khandelwal
Eastern Region:
Vinod Ganatra (Head) Monalisa Mukherjee Namasrri Akashaditya Lama Suraj Kumar Duwarah
Western Region:
B. S. Lingadevaru (Head) Gyan Sahay Mahendra Teredesai Parag Chhapekar Neeraj Pathak
Southern Region I:
Ashok Rane (Head) B. Divaker A. Karthik Raja Jayaram Kailas Shailesh Gupta
Southern Region II:
Imo Singh (Head) Malti Sahay M. K. Bhaskara Rao S. M. Patil B. Ramani
All India Award
Golden Lotus Awards Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees were awarded with the 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizeBest Feature FilmHellaroGujarati Producer: Saarthi Productions LLPDirector: Abhishek Shah 250,000/- eachBest Debut Film of a DirectorNaalMarathiProducer: Mrudhgandh Films LLPDirector: Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti 125,000/- eachBest Popular Film Providing Wholesome EntertainmentBadhaai HoHindiProducer: Junglee Pictures LimitedDirector: Amit Sharma 200,000/- eachBest Children's Film Sarkari Hi. Pra. Shaale, Kasaragodu, Koduge: Ramanna Rai KannadaProducer & Director: Rishab Shetty 150,000/- eachBest DirectionUri: The Surgical StrikeHindiAditya Dhar 250,000/-
Silver Lotus Award Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees were awarded with the 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizeBest Feature Film on National IntegrationOndalla Eradalla KannadaProducer: Umapathy Srinivas Director: D Satya Prakash 150,000/- eachBest Film on Other Social IssuesPad Man HindiProducer: Hope Productions Pvt. LtdDirector: R. Balki 150,000/- eachBest Film on Environment/Conservation/PreservationPaaniMarathiProducer:Purple Pebble Pictures Director:Adinath Kothare 150,000/- eachBest ActorAndhadhun HindiAyushman Khurrana 50,000/- eachUri: The Surgical StrikeVicky KaushalBest ActressMahanatiTelugu Keerthy Suresh 50,000/-Best Supporting ActorChumbakMarathiSwanand Kirkire 50,000/-Best Supporting ActressBadhaai HoHindiSurekha Sikri 50,000/-Best Child ArtistOndalla EradallaKannadaP V Rohith 50,000/-NaalMarathiShrinivas PokaleHarjeetaPunjabiSameep RanautHamidUrduTalha Arshad ReshiBest Male Playback SingerPadmaavatHindiArijit Singh 50,000/-Best Female Playback SingerNathicharamiKannadaBindhu Malini 50,000/-Best CinematographyOluMalayalam M. J. Radhakrishnan 50,000/-Best Screenplay Chi La Sow Telugu Rahul Ravindran 50,000/-Best Screenplay Andhadhun HindiSriram Raghavan, Arijit Biswas, Yogesh Chandekar, Hemanth Rao, and Pooja Ladha Surti 50,000/-Best ScreenplayTarikhBengaliChurni Ganguly 50,000/-Best AudiographyTendlyaMarathiGaurav Verma 50,000/-Best AudiographyUri: The Surgical StrikeHindiBishwadeep Chatterjee 50,000/-Best AudiographyRangasthalamTeluguRaja Krishnan M.R 50,000/-Best EditingNathicharamiKannadaNagendra Ujjani 50,000/-Best Production DesignKammara SambhavamMalayalamVinesh Banglan 50,000/-Best Costume DesignMahanatiTeluguIndrakshi Pattanaik, Gaurang Shah and Archana Rao 50,000/-Best Make-up ArtistAweTeluguRanjith 50,000/-Best Music DirectionPadmaavatHindiSanjay Leela Bhansali 50,000/-Best Music DirectionUri: The Surgical StrikeHindiShashwat Sachdev 50,000/- Best LyricsNathicharamiKannada Manjunatha S. Reddy 50,000/-Best Special EffectsK.G.F: Chapter 1 KannadaUnifi Media 50,000/-AweTeluguSrushti Creative StudioBest ChoreographyPadmaavatHindi Jyoti D. Tommar and Kruti Mahesh 50,000/- Best Stunt ChoreographerK.G.F: Chapter 1 Kannada Vikram More and Anbu Ariv 50,000/-Special Jury AwardKedaraBengaliIndraadip Dasgupta 2,00,000/-HellaroGujaratiShraddha Dangar, Shachi Joshi, Denisha Ghumra, Niilam Paanchal, Tarjani Bhadla, Brinda Nayak, Tejal Panchasara, Kaushambi Bhatt, Ekta Bachwani, Kamini Panchal, Jagruti Thakore, Riddhi Yadav, and Prapti MehtaSpecial MentionNathicharamiKannadaSruthi Hariharan Certificate onlyKadhakHindiChandrachoor Rai JosephMalayalamJoju George Sudani From NigeriaMalayalamSavithri Sreedharan
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.
AwardFilmAwardee(s)Cash prize Producer DirectorBest Feature Film in AssameseBulbul Can Sing Flying River FilmsRima Das 1,00,000/- eachBest Feature Film in BengaliEk Je Chhilo Raja SVF Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. Srijit Mukherji 1,00,000/- eachBest Feature Film in GujaratiRevaParesh VoraRahul BholeVinit Kanojia 1,00,000/- eachBest Feature Film in HindiAndhadhunViacom18 Motion PicturesSriram Raghavan 1,00,000/- eachBest Feature Film in Kannada Nathicharami M. Ramesh ManSoRe 1,00,000/- each Best Feature Film in KonkaniAmoriOpus Ga LaDinesh P. Bhonsle 1,00,000/- eachBest Feature Film in Malayalam Sudani From Nigeria Sameer Thahir Shyju Khalid Zakariya Mohammed 1,00,000/- eachBest Feature Film in MarathiBhonga Nalinee Productions Shivaji Lotan Patil 1,00,000/- each Best Feature Film in PunjabiHarjeetaVillagers Film StudioVijay Kumar Arora 1,00,000/- eachBest Feature Film in TamilBaaramPriya KrishnaswamyArdra SwaroopPriya Krishnaswamy 1,00,000/- eachBest Feature Film in TeluguMahanati Priyanka Dutt Nag Ashwin 1,00,000/- each Best Feature Film in UrduHamid Saregama India LimitedAijaz Khan 1,00,000/- each
Best Feature Film in Each of the Language Other Than Those Specified In the Schedule VIII of the Constitution
AwardFilmAwardee(s)Cash prize Producer Director Best Feature Film in Pangchenpa In The Land Of Poison WomenAaas ProductionsManju Borah 1,00,000/- each Best Feature Film in Rajasthani TurtleShivazza Films & EntertainmentDinesh S. Yadav 1,00,000/- each Best Feature Film in Garo Ma.AmaAnna FilmsDominic Sangma 1,00,000/- each Best Feature Film in SherdukpenMishingBB Entertainment Trade Private LimitedBobby Sarma Baruah 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:
A. S. Kanal (Chairperson) Dhvani Desai Rajendra Mohapatra Chetan Mathur B. R. Srivatsa Vandana Kohli Atul Gangawar
Golden Lotus Award Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees were awarded with the 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizeBest Non-Feature Film Son Rise The Secret Life of Frogs Hindi
EnglishVibha Bakshi
Ajay Bedi & Vijay Bedi 150,000/- eachBest Director in Non-Feature Film Feluda: 50 Years of Ray's DetectiveBengaliSagnik Chatterjee 150,000/-
Silver Lotus Award Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the Awardees were awarded with the 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)' and a cash prize.
AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash prizeBest First Non-Feature FilmSon RiseHindiVibha Bakshi 75,000/- each Best Scientific FilmG. D. Naidu: The Edison of IndiaEnglish 50,000/- eachBest Arts / Cultural Film Bunkar - The Last of the Varanasi WeaversEnglish with HindiSatyaprakash Upadhyay 50,000/- eachBest Environment Film including Best Agricultural FilmThe World's Most Famous TigerEnglishSubbiah Nallamuthu 50,000/- eachBest Promotional FilmRediscovering JajamHindiAvinash Maurya, Kriti Gupta (Directors)
Rachel Bracken Singh (Producer) 50,000/- each Best Film on Social IssuesTaala Te KunjeePunjabiShilpi Gulati (Director) Simardeep Singh (Producer) 50,000/- eachBest Educational / Motivational / Instructional FilmSarala Virala Kannada Ere Gowda 50,000/- each Best Anthropological/Ethnographic Film 50,000/- eachBest Exploration / Adventure Film (including sports) Swimming Through The DarknessBengaliSupriyo Sen 50,000/- eachBest Investigative Film AmoliEnglish HindiJasmine Kaur Roy
Avinash Roy
Sameer Pitalwalla 50,000/- eachBest Animation Film 50,000/- eachBest Short Fiction Film KharvasMarathiAditya Suhas Jambhale 50,000/- eachBest Film on Family WelfareChalo Jeete HainHindiMangesh Hadawale 50,000/- each Best CinematographyThe Secret Life of FrogsEnglishAjay Bedi, Vijay Bedi 50,000/- eachBest Audiography Children Of the Soil Hindi Bishwadeep Chatterjee 50,000/-Best AudiographyThe Secret Life of FrogsEnglish Ajay Bedi 50,000/-Best Editing Son RiseHindi Hemanti Sarkar 50,000/-Best Music DirectionJyotiMarathiKedar Divekar 50,000/- Best Narration / Voice OverMadhubani: The Station Of ColourHindiUrvija Upadhyay