The National Film Award for Best Kannada Feature Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus). Since the 70th National Film Awards, the name has been changed to "Best Kannada Feature Film".
The National Film Awards, established in 1954, are the most prominent film awards in India that merit the best of the Indian cinema. The ceremony also presents awards for films in various regional languages.
Awards for films in seven regional language (Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu) started from 2nd National Film Awards which were presented on 21 December 1955. Three awards of "President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film", "Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature Film" and "Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature Film" were instituted. The latter two certificate awards were discontinued from 15th National Film Awards (1967).
Directed by H. L. N. Simha, the 1954 film Bedara Kannappa, received the first Certificate of Merit. The film was based on the folktale of the hunter Kannappa who proves his extreme devotion to Shiva by plucking out both of his eyes. However, the first "President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Kannada" was only awarded at the 5th National Film Awards ceremony held on 16 April 1958 to the 1957 film Premada Putri. The film was directed by R. Nagendra Rao and produced under his banner R. N. R. Pictures. Following is the list of Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal) recipient films produced in Kannada language.
Winners
The award includes 'Rajat Kamal' (Silver Lotus Award) and cash prize. Following are the award winners over the years:
Awards legends
List of award films, showing the year (award ceremony), producer(s) and director(s) Year Film(s) Producer(s) Director(s)1954 Bedara Kannappa Gubbi Karnataka Productions H. L. N. Simha1955 Mahakavi Kalidasa Lalitakala Film Private Ltd. K. R. Seetharama Sastry 1956 Bhakta Vijaya Jagannath Productions A. K. Pattabhi 1957 Premada Putri R. N. R. Pictures R. Nagendra Rao 1958 School Master B. R. Panthulu B. R. Panthulu 1959 Jagajyothi Basveshwara G. S. S. Murthy T. V. Singh Thakur 1960 Bhakta Kanakadasa D. R. Naidu Y. R. Swamy 1961 Kittur Chennamma Padmini Pictures B. R. Panthulu 1962 Nanda Deepa U. S. Vadhiraj and U. Jawahar M. R. Vittal 1963 Santha Thukaram B. Radhakrishna Sundar Rao NadkarniMangala Muhurta U. Subba Rao M. R. Vittal 1964 Chandavalliya Thota Pals & Co. T. V. Singh Thakur Nava Jeevana U. S. Vadhiraj, U. Jawahar and Bharathi Chitra P. S. Moorthy Mane Aliya A. Subba Rao S. K. A. Chari 1965 Sathya Harishchandra K. V. Reddy Hunsur Krishnamurthy Miss Leelavathi K. S. Jagan Nath M. R. Vittal Maduve Madi Nodu B. Nagi Reddy and Aluri Chakrapani Hunsur Krishnamurthy 1966 Sandhya Raga A. C. Narasimha Murthy A. C. Narasimha Murthy and S. K. Bhagavan 1967 Bangarada Hoovu B. A. Arasu Kumar B. A. Arasu Kumar 1968 Mannina Maga M. V. Vemkatachallam and P. Alexander Geethapriya 1969 Gejje Pooje Chithra Jyothi Puttanna Kanagal 1970 Naguva Hoovu R. N. Sudarshan R. N. K. Prasad 1971 Vamsha Vriksha G. V. Iyer B. V. Karanth and Girish Karnad 1972 Sharapanjara C. S. Rajah Puttanna Kanagal 1973 Abachurina Post Office Patre C. Vinayak N. Lakshminarayan 1974 Kankana Hamzu Jagalur Imam M. B. S. Prasad 1975 Hamsageethe Anantha Lakshmi Films G. V. Iyer 1976 Pallavi K. S. Indira Lankesh P. Lankesh 1977 Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane B. M. Venkatesh and Chandulal Jain Girish Karnad and B. V. Karanth1978 Ondanondu Kaladalli L. N. Combines Girish Karnad 1979 Arivu K. R. Suresh Katte Ramachandra 1980 No Award 1981 Bara M. S. Sathyu M. S. Sathyu 1982 Phaniyamma Prema Karanth Prema Karanth 1983 Banker Margayya T. S. Narasimhan and B. S. Somasundar T. S. Nagabharana 1984 Bandhana Rohini Pictures Rajendra Singh Babu 1985 Bettada Hoovu Parvathamma Rajkumar N. Lakshminarayan 1986 Shankha Nada Umesh Kulkarni Umesh Kulkarni 1987 Kadina Benki Manasa Arts Suresh Heblikar 1988 Bannada Vesha Doordarshan Girish Kasaravalli 1989 Mane Apoorva Chitra and NFDC Girish Kasaravalli 1990 Muthina Haara Rajendra Singh Babu Rajendra Singh Babu 1991 Mysore Mallige Srihari L. Khodey T. S. Nagabharana 1992 Harakeya Kuri B. V. Radha Lalitha Ravee 1993 Chinnari Mutha Nagini Nagabharana, Saroja and Nandakumar T. S. Nagabharana 1994 Kotreshi Kanasu G. Nandakumar Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar 1995 Kraurya Nirmala Chitgopi Girish Kasaravalli 1996 America America G. Nandakumar Nagathihalli Chandrashekar 1997 Mungarina Minchu Jai Jagadish and R. Dushyanth Singh Rajendra Singh Babu 1998 Hoomale K. S. Usha Rao Nagathihalli Chandrashekar 1999 Kanooru Heggadithi H. G. Narayana, C. M. Narayana and I. P. Mallegowda Girish Karnad 2000 Mathadana H. G. Narayana and I. P. Mallegowda T. N. Seetharam 2001 Atithi Mitrachitra P. Sheshadri 2002 Singaaravva Sandesh Nagaraj T. S. Nagabharana 2003 Preethi Prema Pranaya Kavitha Lankesh Kavitha Lankesh 2004 Beru Mitrachitra P. Sheshadri 2005 Thaayi Prameela Joshai Baraguru Ramachandrappa 2006 Kaada Beladingalu K. M. Veeresh, K. N. Siddalingaiah and B. S. Lingadevaru B. S. Lingadevaru 2007 Gulabi Talkies Basant Kumar Patil Girish Kasaravalli 2008 Vimukthi Navyachitra Creations P. Sheshadri 2009 Kanasemba Kudureyaneri Basant Kumar Patil Girish Kasaravalli 2010 Puttakkana Highway Shylaja Nag and Prakash Raj B. Suresha 2011 Koormavatara Basant Kumar Patil Girish Kasaravalli 2012 Bharath Stores Basant Productions P. Sheshadri 2013 December-1 Basant Productions P. Sheshadri 2014 Harivu Om Studio Manjunath S. 2015 Thithi Prospect Productions Raam Reddy 2016 Reservation Thotadamane Nikhil Manjoo 2017 Hebbet Ramakka Puttaraju S. A. N. R. Nanjunde Gowda 2018 Nathicharami Tejaswini Enterprises Manjunath S. 2019 Akshi Kaladegula Studio Manoj Kumar 2020 Dollu Wadeeyar Movies Sagar Puranik 2021 777 Charlie G. S. Gupta and Rakshit Shetty Kiranraj K. 2022 KGF: Chapter 2 Vijay Kiragandur Prashanth Neel 2023 Kandeelu Swastik Entertainment Yeshoda Prakash Kottukathira 2024 Mithya Rakshit Shetty Sumanth Bhat
References
External links Official Page for Directorate of Film Festivals, India National Film Awards Archives