National Awards: Regional Best Films by Language

The 72nd National Film Awards named a best feature in each language, and the list reaches well beyond the headline winners. Kalki 2898 AD took Best Popular Film, Article 370 took Best Feature Film, and the regional list runs from Assamese to Tulu.

The headline awards

The Press Information Bureau's list gives Best Feature Film to the Hindi film Article 370, with Aditya Suhas Jambhale as director and Jio Studios and B62 Studios as producers. Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment went to Kalki 2898 AD, directed by Nag Ashwin and produced by Vyjayanthi Movies, a Telugu film. Best Children's Film went to the Telugu film 35 Chinna Katha Kaadu. Amaran, a Tamil film, took Best Direction for Rajkumar Periasamy and Best Editing, and its music director G. V. Prakash Kumar won the background score award, which is why Wikipedia lists it among the three films with the most awards, alongside Article 370 and Mithya.

Regional best features

Wikipedia's page lists the winners by language. The Hindi award went to Srikanth, directed by Tushar Hiranandani. The Tamil award went to Raayan, directed by Dhanush, and the Telugu award to Committee Kurrollu, directed by Yadhu Vamsi. Feminichi Fathima, directed by Fasil Muhammed, won for Malayalam, and Mithya, directed by Sumanth Bhat, won for Kannada. Mu. Po. Bombilwaadi, directed by Paresh Mokashi, won for Marathi.

The remaining languages are Assamese, Juiphool, Bengali, Chaalchitra Ekhon, directed by Anjan Dutt, Gujarati, Maaran, directed by Abhishek Jain, Konkani, Mog Asum, Manipuri, Sunita, directed by Yumnam Ajit Singh, and Odia, Lahari. Languages not listed in the Constitution's Eighth Schedule also have awards: Garhwali, Dholi, and Tulu, Imbu.

Notes on a few winners

The Times of India says Committee Kurrollu is a coming-of-age rural drama praised for its simple storytelling and realistic portrayal of village life, with a cast that includes Sandeep Saroj and Yaswanth Pendyala, and that it is backed by Niharika Konidela's banner. It says Raayan is a neo-noir revenge drama directed by and starring Dhanush, and Feminichi Fathima tells the story of a devoted homemaker who challenges societal norms to assert her identity.

Of Mithya, the Times of India says the film was directed by the debutant Sumanth Bhat, produced by Rakshit Shetty, and won three awards, including Best Child Artist for Athish S. Shetty and Best Supporting Actress for Roopashree Varkady. The awards list shows Best Supporting Actress shared with Sachana Namidass for the Tamil film Maharaja.

Telugu's tally

The Hindu's headline, listed in Wikipedia's citations, says Telugu films bagged seven awards. From the list, the Telugu awards include Best Popular Film and Production Design for Kalki 2898 AD, Best Children's Film, Best Screenplay and Best Costume Design for Pushpa 2: The Rule, Best Dialogue for Lucky Baskhar, and Best Make-up and Best Telugu Film for Committee Kurrollu. We counted eight awards for Telugu films on that list, because the count depends on how shared and sub-category awards are tallied. We have not tried to reconcile this with The Hindu.

Why it matters

The regional list is a map of where critics and juries found work worth honouring, and it shows how the awards spread across industries. The Hindi film awards went to Article 370, Srikanth, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 for sound design, Stree 2 for choreography and Maidaan for lyrics, according to the list.

What we could not confirm

We could not confirm The Hindu's count of seven Telugu awards. We could not confirm the jury's reasoning for any category. We read the Wikipedia and PIB lists and the Times of India article in part. We have not seen the winning films.

Sources

*Cover photo: Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons, *[*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nag_Ashwin_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg*](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nag_Ashwin_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg)* (CC BY-SA 3.0).*