Shah Rukh Khan Wins at India’s National Awards

Shah Rukh Khan and Vikrant Massey shared best actor honors at India’s 71st national film awards, while Rani Mukerji has been named best actress and “12th Fail” took home the top prize for best feature film.

The awards, presented by India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, honored films certified in the calendar year 2023.

Actor-producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s “12th Fail” — a Hindi-language biographical drama based on the life of civil servant Manoj Kumar Sharma — emerged as the major winner, earning the prestigious Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) for best feature film, as well as a best actor award for Massey.

Shah Rukh Khan received his first-ever national award for his performance in the box office juggernaut “Jawan” (Hindi), directed by Atlee. 

Rani Mukerji was honored for her lead role in “Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway” (Hindi), in which she plays a mother fighting a custody battle with a foreign government.

Sudipto Sen won best direction for the controversial political thriller “The Kerala Story” (Hindi), which also received the award for best cinematography, credited to Prasanthanu Mohapatra. Meghna Gulzar’s “Sam Bahadur” (Hindi) — a military biopic on Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw — was awarded best feature film promoting national, social and environmental values, and also won best costume and make-up.

Karan Johar’s “Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani” (Hindi) won best popular film providing wholesome entertainment, along with best choreography for the number “Dhodhora Baje Re.”

In the supporting categories, Urvashi was named best supporting actress for “Ullazhukku” (Malayalam), alongside Janki Bodiwala for the Gujarati horror-thriller “Vash.” The best supporting actor category saw a tie between Vijayaraghavan for “Pookalam” (Malayalam) and Muthupettai Somu Bhaskar for “Parking” (Tamil).

“Aatmapamphlet” (Marathi), directed by Ashish Avinash Bende, won best debut film of a director (feature). “Hanu-Man” (Telugu), directed by Prasanth Varma, was awarded best film in animation, visual effects, gaming and comics (AVGC).

Technical awards went to “Animal” (Hindi) for best sound design and re-recording (credited to Sachin Sudhakaran and Hariharan Muralidharan), “Vaathi” (Tamil) for best music direction (songs) by G. V. Prakash Kumar, and “Balagam” (Telugu) for best lyrics by Kasarla Shyam. “2018: Everyone Is A Hero” (Malayalam) won best production design (Mohandas), while “Pookalam” (Malayalam) claimed best editing (Midhun Murali). “Baby” (Telugu) won best original screenplay (Sai Rajesh Neelam), with “Parking” (Tamil) also sharing the award (Ramkumar Balakrishnan). “Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai” (Hindi) won best dialogue (Deepak Kingrani). Singing honors went to “Baby” for best male playback (PVN S Rohit) and “Jawan” for best female playback (Shilpa Rao).

Regional honors were spread across languages, with “Kathal: A Jackfruit Mystery” named best Hindi film, “Bhagavanth Kesari” for Telugu, “Parking” for Tamil, “Ullazhukku” for Malayalam, and “Vash” for Gujarati. Other winners included “Deep Fridge” (Bengali), “Godday Godday Chaa” (Punjabi), “Pushkara” (Odia), “Kandeelu – The Ray of Hope” (Kannada), “Shyamchi Aai” (Marathi), “Rangatapu (1982)” (Assamese), “Rimgodittanga” (Garo), and “PAi Tang… Step of Hope” (Tai Phake).

Non-feature film winners included “Flowering Man” (Hindi) as best non-feature film, with “The First Film” (Hindi) winning both best direction and best music. Other standouts included “Little Wings” (Tamil) for best cinematography, “Moving Focus” (English) for best editing, and “Giddh The Scavenger” (Hindi) for best short film. “Mau: The Spirit of Dream of Cheraw” (Mizo) won best debut film of a director (non-feature).

Additional non-feature awards went to “God Vulture and Human” (English, Hindi & Telugu) for best documentary (Rishiraj Agarwal), “The Silent Epidemic” (Hindi) for social and environmental values (Akshat Gupta), “Dhundhgiri Ke Phool” (Hindi) for best sound design (Shubharun Sengupta), and “Sunflowers Were The First Ones To Know” (Kannada) for best script (Chidananda Naik). “Mo Bou, Mo Gaan” (Odia) by Subash Sahoo and “Lentina Ao – A Light on the Eastern Horizon” (English) by Sanjib Parasar shared the award for best biographical/historical reconstruction. “Timeless Tamil Nadu” (English) by Kamakhya Narayan Singh won best arts and culture film. “The Sacred Jack: Exploring The Tree of Wishes” (English) won best narration/voice-over (Harikrishnan S). “Nekal – Chronicle of The Paddy Man” (Malayalam) and “The Sea and Seven Villages” (Odia) received special mentions.

The award for best film critic went to Utpal Datta.

The National Film Awards are decided by independent juries appointed by the Directorate of Film Festivals. In total, the 71st edition considered 332 feature films, 115 non-feature films, 27 books, and 16 critics’ entries. Jury chairs included Ashutosh Gowariker (feature films), P. Sheshadri (non-feature films), and Gopalkrishna Pai (writing on cinema).