Conferred by the Hon'ble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu, the 72nd edition honoured the finest achievements in Indian cinema for films certified in the calendar year 2024. The ceremony was headlined by veteran Kannada cinema titan Anant Nag receiving Indian cinema's highest cinematic honor—the Dadasaheb Phalke Award—while Bollywood’s political drama Article 370 swept major top honours, including Best Feature Film and Best Actress in a Leading Role for Yami Gautam Dhar.
Major Feature Film Category Winners
Category Winner(s) Film / Work Language Dadasaheb Phalke Award Anant Nag Outstanding Contribution to Indian Cinema Multi-lingual / Kannada Best Feature Film Jio Studios & B62 Studios (Dir. Aditya Suhas Jambhale) Article 370 Hindi Best Direction Rajkumar Periasamy Amaran Tamil Best Actor in a Leading Role Mammootty (Kodumon Potti) Kartik Aaryan (Murlikant Petkar) Bramayugam Chandu Champion Malayalam Hindi Best Actress in a Leading Role Yami Gautam Dhar Article 370 Hindi Best Debut Film of a Director Randeep Hooda Swatantrya Veer Savarkar Hindi Wholesome Entertainment Nag Ashwin (Dir.) / Vyjayanthi Movies Kalki 2898 AD Telugu Best Supporting Actor Sanjay Mishra Bhakshak Hindi Best Supporting Actress Sachana Namidass Ropashree Varkady Maharaja Mithya Tamil Kannada Special Mention (Acting) Dhanush Captain Miller Tamil
Music, Writing & Technical Honours
Original Screenplay: Bandreddi Sukumar for the high-octane Telugu blockbuster Pushpa: The Rule (Part 2).
Music Direction (Background Music): Shared between G.V. Prakash Kumar for his poignant war score in Amaran and Shashwat Sachdev for Article 370.
Editing: R. Kalaivannan for Amaran.
Choreography: Vijay Ganguly for the viral dance anthem "Aaj Ki Raat" from the blockbuster horror-comedy Stree 2.
Costume Design: Deepali Noor and Sheetal Sharma for Pushpa: The Rule (Part 2).
Production Design: Nitin Zihani Choudhary for world-building in Kalki 2898 AD.
Sound Design: Manas Choudhury for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3.
Regional & Non-Feature Section Highlights
Best Tamil Film: Director-actor Dhanush took home the trophy for his gritty action drama Raayan (alongside his acting special mention for Captain Miller).
Non-Feature Best Film: Bhangaar bagged Best Non-Feature Film.
Best Documentary: Ram-Nami.
Best Direction (Non-Feature): Filmmaker Aanand L. Rai won for his documentary short Statue of Unity – Ekta ka Prateek.
Industry & Cultural Significance:
The 72nd ceremony highlighted two defining trends in contemporary Indian cinema: True Cross-Industry Parity: The split Best Actor win between Mammootty (securing his career's fourth National Award) and Kartik Aaryan (marking his career-first win) embodied the convergence of regional arthouse mastery with mainstream biographical physical discipline.
Decentralizing National Honors: By shifting the awards dais from New Delhi to Gujarat's Ekta Nagar, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting initiated a rotational nationwide policy—celebrating India's multifaceted cinema culture across varied regional hubs.
