72nd National Film Awards 2026: Full Winners List - Kartik Aaryan, Mammootty, Yami Gautam, and 'Article 370' Win Big
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72nd National Film Awards 2026 Winners Kartik Aaryan, Mammootty, Yami Gautam |
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has officially announced the winners of the highly anticipated 72nd National Film Awards (2026).
From commercial juggernauts like Kalki 2898 AD and Pushpa 2: The Rule to critically acclaimed gems like Bramayugam and Article 370, the awards highlighted the diverse storytelling canvas of Indian cinema.
Major Highlights: Shared Triumphs and Milestone Debuts
Best Actor Joint Win: The premier acting honor for Best Actor was shared by Bollywood star Kartik Aaryan for his career-defining role in the sports biopic Chandu Champion, and Malayalam legendary superstar Mammootty for his spine-chilling performance in the black-and-white horror masterpiece Bramayugam (marking his fourth career National Award win).
First for Yami Gautam: Yami Gautam took home her maiden National Award for Best Actress for her stellar, high-octane performance in the political thriller Article 370, which also clinched the prestigious Best Feature Film title.
Director's Choice: Rajkumar Periasamy secured the Best Director trophy for helming the emotional biographical war drama Amaran.
72nd National Film Awards 2026 – Complete Winners List (Feature Films)
| Award Category | Winner(s) | Film / Language |
|---|---|---|
| 🏆 Best Feature Film | Article 370 | Hindi |
| 👨 Best Actor | Kartik Aaryan & Mammootty | Chandu Champion (Hindi) & Bramayugam (Malayalam) |
| 👩 Best Actress | Yami Gautam | Article 370 (Hindi) |
| 🎬 Best Director | Rajkumar Periasamy | Amaran (Tamil) |
| 🎭 Best Supporting Actor | Sanjay Mishra | Bhakshak (Hindi) |
| 🎭 Best Supporting Actress | Ropashree Varkady & Sachana Namidass | Mithya (Kannada) & Maharaja (Tamil) |
| 🎉 Best Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment | Kalki 2898 AD | Telugu / Pan-India |
| 🇮🇳 Best Film Promoting National & Social Values | Captain Miller | Tamil |
| 👦 Best Child Artist | Riddhiman Banerjee, Tapomoy Deb & Gitashree Chakraborty | Onko Ki Kothin |
| 🎥 Best Cinematography | Shehnad Jalaal | Bramayugam (Malayalam) |
| ✍️ Best Screenplay | Sukumar | Pushpa 2: The Rule (Telugu) |
| 💬 Best Dialogue Writer | Venky Atluri | Lucky Baskhar (Telugu) |
| 🏛️ Best Production Design | Nitin Zihani Choudhary | Kalki 2898 AD |
| 💄 Best Make-Up Artist | P. Ravi Kumar | Committee Kurrollu (Telugu) |
| 👗 Best Costume Design | Deepali Noor & Sheetal Sharma | Pushpa 2: The Rule |
| 🎼 Best Music Direction (Songs) | Shashwat Sachdev | Article 370 |
| 🎵 Best Music Direction (Background Score) | GV Prakash Kumar | Amaran |
| 🎤 Best Male Playback Singer | Abhay Jodhpurkar | "Gharat Ganpati" from Navasachi Gauri Mazi |
| 🎙️ Best Female Playback Singer | Vaikom Vijayalakshmi | "Angu Vaana Konilu" from ARM |
| 💃 Best Choreography | Vijay Ganguly | Stree 2 (Hindi) |
| 🔊 Best Sound Design | Manas Choudhury | Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 (Hindi) |
| ✂️ Best Editing | R. Kalaivannan | Amaran (Tamil) |
| ⭐ Special Mention (Acting) | Dhanush | Captain Miller (Tamil) |
| 🎚️ Special Mention (Sound Mix Engineer) | Suren G | Meiyazhagan (Tamil) |
Regional Language Feature Awards
Best Hindi Film: Srikanth
Best Tamil Film: Raayan
Best Telugu Film: Committee Kurrollu
Best Malayalam Film: Feminichi Fathima
Best Kannada Film: Mithya
Best Marathi Film: Mukkam Post Bombilwadi
Best Bengali Film: Chalchitra Ekhon
Best Odia Film: Lahari
Best Gujarati Film: Maaran
Best Manipuri Film: Sunita
Best Konkani Film: Mog Asum
Non-Feature Films Category Winners List
A sprawling lineup of 161 non-feature films spanning 24 diverse languages competed aggressively across 16 highly specialized technical and creative categories.
Best Non-Feature Film: Bhangaar (Obsolete) (Marathi and English)
Best Debut Film of a Director: Ravi Raj Murmu for Angen (Invisible) (Santhali)
Best Biographical/Historical Reconstruction Film: Kakori — Kamlesh K Mishra
Best Art/Culture Film: Main Nida (Hindi) — Atul Pandey
Best Film Promoting Social and Environmental Values: Piplantri: A Tale of Eco Feminism — Suraj Kumar
Best Animation Film: Touched as Water — Joshy Benedict
Best Short Film: Hamsafar (Marathi)
Best Direction: Statue of Unity: Ekta Ka Prateek (Hindi) — Aanand L. Rai
Best Cinematography: Life in Loom — Edmond Ranson
Best Sound Design: Blue (Tamil) — TS Hari Hara Sudhan
Best Editing: NDA (Hindi) — Manvir Jasrotia
Best Music Direction: Parat 41°chya Magavar (On the Trail of 41°) (Marathi) — Shivpal Singh Kang
Best Narrator: Little Planet: A Tale of Frogs (English) — Soundarya Jayachandran
Best Script: Obur (Clouds) (Hindi and Kashmiri/Urdu) — Faraz Ali
Special Mention: Chola Dora aur Sui (Hindi) — Jaymin Modi & Lokesh Ghai
Special Mention: Bhadra-Kali Natakam — Ananda Jyothi
Other Major Honors
Best Film Critic: Sanjeev Shrivastava for his insightful contribution to Hindi cinema criticism.
Best Book on Cinema: Naaniruvude Nimagaagi Naadiruvude Nanagaagi: Kannada Cinemada Thathva Matthu Rajakeeya authored by Kenchanuru Pradeep Kumar Shetty.
BollyXplained Verdict: The 72nd National Film Awards perfectly celebrated the blend of high-grossing commercial cinema alongside deep artistic statements. The split in the Best Actor category demonstrates the jury's praise for both raw method acting (Mammootty) and transformative physical dedication (Kartik Aaryan).