| Number: | 42 |
| Award: | National Film Awards |
| Awarded For: | Best of Indian cinema in 1994 |
| Award Org: | Directorate of Film Festivals |
| Presenting Org: | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| Site: | Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi |
| Website: | dff.nic.in |
| Lifetime Achievement: | Dilip Kumar |
| Best Feature: | Unishe April |
| Best Non Feature: | Rasayatra |
| Best Book: | Abhinayam Anubhavam |
| Best Critic: | Rashmi Doraiswamy |
| Most Wins: | Kadhalan Parinayam (4) |
| Last: | 41st |
| Next: | 43rd |
The 42nd National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1994.[1] Ceremony took place in 1995 and awards were given by then President of India, Shankar Dayal Sharma.
Awards were divided into feature films, non-feature films and books written on Indian cinema.
Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For 42nd National Film Awards, a Bengali film, Unishe April won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film whereas a Tamil film, Kadhalan and a Malayalam film, Parinayam won the maximum number of awards (4). Following were the awards given in each category:
Following were the awards given:
Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
| Name of Award | Name of Film | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Feature Film | Unishe April | Bengali | Producer: Renu Roy | 50,000/- |
| director: Rituparno Ghosh | 25,000/- | |||
| Citation: For a complex and impeccable rendition of fragmenting family relationships in urban India. The bond between a mother and daughter is extended to a defined space and time, and a drama immaculately constructed. | ||||
| Best Debut Film of A Director | Mogha Mull | Tamil | Producer: J. Dharmambal Director: Gnana Rajasekaran | 25,000/- Each |
| Citation: For an able translation of a literary work of art, for integrating music with melodramatic narrative and for a cinematic simplicity matched with remarkable directorial control. | ||||
| Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment | Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! | Hindi | Producer: Rajshri Productions | 40,000/- |
| Director: Sooraj R. Barjatya | 20,000/- | |||
| Citation: For revolutionising mass entertainment in India with a family entertainer and a fantasy film that succeeds without recourse to familiar narrative idioms of violence. | ||||
| Best Children's Film | Kochaniyan | Malayalam | Producer: Bushura Shahudeen | 30,000/- |
| Director: Sathieesh Vengannoor | 15,000/- | |||
| Citation: For a simple but effective tale of a middle class Kerala family told through the experiences and dreams of a young boy. | ||||
| Abhay | Hindi | Producer: National Center of Films for Children and Young People | 30,000/- | |
| Director: Annu Kapoor | 15,000/- | |||
| Citation: For an entertaining film advocating humane love between a child and a ghost advocating a rational outlook to life. | ||||
| Best Direction | Xagoroloi Bohudoor | Assamese | Jahnu Barua | 50,000/- |
| Citation: For capturing Assamese life and reality in an original format uniquely associated with the director, and for enriching the spectrum of Indian Cinema thereby. | ||||
Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
| Name of Award | Name of Film | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Feature Film on National Integration | Mukta | Marathi | Producer: Ashok B. Mhatre | 30,000/- |
| Director: Jabbar Patel | 15,000/- | |||
| Citation: For mapping a sharply defined dramatic style on to a canvas of national caste oppresion and for unversalising the alliances of the Indian Dalit people. | ||||
| Best Film on Family Welfare | Karuththamma | Tamil | Producer: Vetrivel Art Creations | 30,000/- |
| Director: Bharathiraja | 15,000/- | |||
| Citation: For extending the pressing social issue of female infanticide onto a melodrama spanning the canvas of rural Tamil Nadu, a dimension that is now uniquely Bharathiraja signature. | ||||
| Best Film on Other Social Issues | Parinayam | Malayalam | Producer: G. P. Vijayakumar | 30,000/- |
| Director: Hariharan | 15,000/- | |||
| Citation: For recreating a real incident in the social history of Kerala, thereby indicating the continued relevance of gender oppression in traditional caste-dominated society. | ||||
| Wheelchair | Bengali | Producer: NFDC | 30,000/- | |
| Director: Tapan Sinha | 15,000/- | |||
| Citation: For a positive rendition of the condition of handicapped people suggesting affirmative action. | ||||
| Best Film on Environment / Conservation / Preservation | Nirbachana | Oriya | Producer: NFDC and Doordarshan | 30,000/- |
| Director: Biplab Ray Chowdhury | 15,000/- | |||
| Citation: For a stunningly controlled and uniquely cinematic metaphor of rural India and impending environment catastrophe shown with compassion and satire. | ||||
| Best Actor | Krantiveer | Hindi | Nana Patekar | 10,000/- |
| Citation: For his impressive portrayal of a man who lives on his own terms. He is able to rekindle in the common man the deep, hidden resource of strength that lies dormant in each one of us. | ||||
| Best Actress | Unishe April | Bengali | Debashree Roy | 10,000/- |
| Citation: For her complete identification with character of lonely doctor. The wide range of emotion is portrayed in a most sensitive and controlled manner in this film. | ||||
| Best Supporting Actor | Drohkaal | Hindi | Ashish Vidyarthi | 10,000/- Each |
| Citation: For bringing credibility to his role with strength and total conviction. | ||||
| Nammavar | Tamil | Nagesh | ||
| Citation: For making heart break of a broken father come alive with dignity and poise. | ||||
| Best Supporting Actress | Mammo | Hindi | Surekha Sikri | 10,000/- |
| Citation: For her portrayal of surrogate mother, underplayed with quite sensitivity and gentleness. | ||||
| Best Child Artist | Kotreshi Kanasu | Kannada | Vijay Raghavendra | 10,000/- |
| Citation: For his portrayal of bright little boy who is a social outcast. He wins your heart with his soft and endearing mannerisms. | ||||
| Best Male Playback Singer | Kadhalan Pavithra | Tamil | P. Unni Krishnan | 10,000/- |
| Citation: For his range and masterly rendition of the songs of two Tamil films, demonstrating a rare professionalism and command over technique. | ||||
| Best Female Playback Singer | Karuththamma | Tamil | Swarnalatha | 10,000/- |
| Citation: For her extraordinarily compassionate song upon which much of the crucial dramatic action in the film is enacted. | ||||
| Best Cinematography | Thenmavin Kombath | Malayalam | Cameraman K. V. Anand | 15,000/- |
| Citation: In recognition of the outstanding cinematography executed with sincerity, imagination and flexibility. Fluid camera movements, praise compositions, and use of light are the highlights of this visual experience. | ||||
| Best Screenplay | Parinayam | Malayalam | M. T. Vasudevan Nair | 10,000/- |
| Citation: For his masterly use of fiction in cinema, reconstructing pre-1940s Kerala through sharply defined characters and remarkable control over dialogue. | ||||
| Best Audiography | Kadhalan | Tamil | A. S. Laxmi Narayanan V. S. Murthy | 10,000/- |
| Citation: For combining numerous effects in multiple tracks and an often dazzling array of music, sound and dialogue with remarkable technical control. | ||||
| Best Editing | Kadhalan | Tamil | B. Lenin V. T. Vijayan | 10,000/- |
| Citation: For the sheer magic of an editing idiom, cut to perfect timing event at a breath taking pace, in sequences that often make the implausible a plausibility. | ||||
| Best Art Direction | Thenmavin Kombath | Malayalam | Sabu Cyril | 10,000/- |
| Citation: For creating an appropriate space for a romantic fantasy in cinema-scope in tandem with the cinematography. | ||||
| Best Costume Design | Amodini | Bengali | Supriya Dasgupta | 10,000/- |
| Citation: For an aesthetic recreation of 18th century costumes, evoking the traditions of Bengali painting and theatre. | ||||
| Best Music Direction | Parinayam Sukrutham | Malayalam | Ravi (Bombay) | 10,000/- Each |
| Citation: For his melodious rendering of his tunes. The music in both the films exhibit originality and creatively highlights the entire mood of the two films, achieving musical harmony | ||||
| Sukrutham | Malayalam | Johnson | ||
| Citation: For scoring the background music. | ||||
| Best Lyrics | Karuththamma Pavithra | Tamil | Vairamuthu | 10,000/- |
| Citation: Through their lyrics, he is able to bring to the fore his rich repertory of poetic expression which sensitively enhances the mood of the films. | ||||
| Best Special Effects | Kadhalan | Tamil | C. Murugesh S. T. Venki | 10,000/- |
| Citation: In recognition of many spectacular sequences creatively engineered. | ||||
| Best Choreography | Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! | Hindi | Jay Borade | 10,000/- |
| Citation: For a graceful and aesthetically pleasing choreography, contemporary and yet traditional in its adherence to Indian cultural practices. | ||||
| Special Jury Award | Param Vir Chakra | Hindi | Radhu Karmakar (Posthumously) (Cinematographer) | 25,000/- Each |
| Citation: In appreciation of a lifetime achievement in creating some of the most memorable moments in Indian film history. | ||||
| Swaham | Malayalam | Shaji N. Karun (Director) | ||
| Citation: For one of the most outstanding directors of Indian cinema, for sensitively probing the vacuum created in a family, when its central pivot is lost in death. | ||||
| Special Mention | Nammavar | Tamil | Mahesh Mahadevan (Music director) | Certificate Only |
| Citation: For his unusual and innovative score, using sound effects as an integral part of his musical arrangement. | ||||
| Xagoroloi Bohudoor | Assamese | Bishnu Kharghoria (Actor) | ||
| Citation: For his poignant and memorable role for bringing alive the heartrending agony of a boatman and his grandson, who is not only deserted by his son, but also his life sustaining river – his only source of livelihood. | ||||
| Parinayam | Malayalam | S. Kumar (Cinematographer) | ||
| Citation: For recreating and bringing to life an ambiance and characters that help lend credibility to a difficult and complex scenario. Sensitively handled and a sustained performance where the camera and lights have been used as an extension of the creative story teller. | ||||
The award is given to best film in the regional languages in India.
| Name of Award | Name of Film | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Feature Film in Assamese | Xagoroloi Bohudoor | Producer: Sailadhar Baruah and Jahnu Barua | 20,000/- |
| Director: Jahnu Barua | 10,000/- | ||
| Citation: For the filmmaker's ability to tell a complex tale with minimal canvas, handling the medium with control, restraint and extraordinary sensitivity. | |||
| Best Feature Film in Bengali | Amidini | Producer: NFDC and Doordarshan | 20,000/- |
| Director: Chidananda Dasgupta | 10,000/- | ||
| Citation: For a stylised and innovative period rendition of complex social relations in 18th century Bengal, integrating performances with camera movements and mise en scene. | |||
| Best Feature Film in Hindi | Mammo | Producer: NFDC and Doordarshan | 20,000/- |
| Director: Shyam Benegal | 10,000/- | ||
| Citation: For a poignant narrative of a family set against the trauma of exiled people in past post partition India. | |||
| Best Feature Film in Kannada | Kotreshi Kanasu | Producer: G. Nandakumar | 20,000/- |
| Director: Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar | 10,000/- | ||
| Citation: For a simple but effective tale of a young harijan boy fighting cast justice in rural Karnataka. | |||
| Best Feature Film in Malayalam | Sukrutham | Producer: M. M. Ramachandran | 20,000/- |
| Director: Hari Kumar | 10,000/- | ||
| Citation: Against the backdrop of impending death, complex marital and social relationships are explored. | |||
| Best Feature Film in Manipuri | Mayophy Gee Macha | Producer: Thouyangba and Thoungamba | 20,000/- |
| Director: Oken Amakcham | 10,000/- | ||
| Citation: For a simple story of a rural life in Manipuri handled with a deft mastery over the medium. | |||
| Best Feature Film in Tamil | Nammavar | Producer: B. Venkatarama Reddy | 20,000/- |
| Director: K. S. Sethumadhavan | 10,000/- | ||
| Citation: For professionally assembled tale of a college professor who encounters student violence, marked by several impressive performances. | |||
Best Feature Film in Each of the Language Other Than Those Specified in the Schedule VIII of the Constitution
| Name of Award | Name of Film | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Feature Film in English | English, August | Producer: Anuradha Parikh | 20,000/- |
| Director: Dev Benegal | 10,000/- | ||
| Citation: For adapting a complex and highly applauded novel with a cinematic skill and mastery matching the original work, a translation unusual in contemporary Indian cinema. | |||
Short Films made in any Indian language and certified by the Central Board of Film Certification as a documentary/newsreel/fiction are eligible for non-feature film section.
Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
| Name of Award | Name of Film | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Non-Feature Film | Rasayatra | Hindi and English | Producer: Interaction Video Communication | 20,000/- Each |
| Director: Nandan Kudhyadi | 15,000/- Each | |||
| Citation: For its sensitive and imaginative transposition of music, into a dignified cinematic expression. | ||||
Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)' and cash prize.
| Name of Award | Name of Film | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best First Non-Feature Film | A Little War | Hindi | Producer: Film and Television Institute of India Director: Atanu Biswas | 10,000/- Each |
| Citation: For a restrained performances that its camera elicits. | ||||
| Best Anthropological / Ethnographic Film | The Trapped | English | Producer: K. Jayachandran Director: O. K. Johnny | 10,000/- Each |
| Citation: For choosing to focus on the exploitation, past and present, of a small tribe, without platitudinous sentimentality. | ||||
| Best Arts / Cultural Film | Painting in Time | English | Producer: Topshots Director: Sarbajit Sen | 10,000/- Each |
| Citation: For using play of light to enter the surface of a culture, unobtrusively, allowing it to reveal its magical metaphysics. | ||||
| Best Scientific Film | Another Way of Learning | English | Producer: Comet Media Foundation Director: Chandita Mukherjee | 10,000/- Each |
| Citation: For being at once precise and warm in its approach to teaching processes. | ||||
| Best Environment / Conservation / Preservation Film | Visuddha Vanangal | Malayalam | Producer: Kerala State Film Development Corporation Director: K. R. Mohanan | 10,000/- Each |
| Citation: For its analytical clarity and rigorous research in addressing a specific ecological issue. | ||||
| Best Promotional Film | Blue Flames, Green Villages | English | Producer: National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board, Ministry of Environment and Forests Director: Ramesh Asher | 10,000/- Each |
| Citation: For its competent presentation of a rural project, within its given brief. | ||||
| Best Historical Reconstruction / Compilation Film | Phalke Children | English | Producer: R. Krishna Mohan and Y. N. Engineer Director: Kamal Swaroop | 10,000/- Each |
| Citation: For the film which, while documenting the life and work of the subject, critiques the iconocising approach to history. | ||||
| Best Film on Social Issues | Father, Son and Holy War (Part I – Trial by Fire, Part II – Hero Pharmacy) | Hindi and English | Producer: Anand Patwardhan Director: Anand Patwardhan | 10,000/- Each |
| Citation: For its conviction, courage and relentless observation, tempered by a sharp sense of irony. | ||||
| Best Educational / Motivational / Instructional Film | News Magazine No. 268 (A) Plague – Curable and Preventable | Hindi | Producer: R. Krishna Mohan Director: Mahesh P. Sinha | 10,000/- Each |
| Citation: For its simple, direct and clear communication about the threat of plague. | ||||
| Best Investigative Film | Father, Son and Holy War (Part I – Trial by Fire, Part II – Hero Pharmacy) | Hindi and English | Producer: Anand Patwardhan Director: Anand Patwardhan | 10,000/- Each |
| Citation: For probing beyond the objective, in its pursuit of insights, allowing even the unexpected to suggest the oblique. | ||||
| Best Animation Film | Mahagiri | Hindi | Producer: Bhimsain Director: Kireet Animator: S. M. Hasan | 10,000/- Each |
| Citation: For its playful wit, its liveliness of line and indigenous idiom. | ||||
| Best Short Fiction Film | Still Life | Hindi and English | Producer: Film and Television Institute of India Director: Subhadro Chowdhary | 10,000/- Each |
| Citation: For its stylistic sophistication in dealing with the chaos of painful experience. | ||||
| Best Film on Family Welfare | Clint | Malayalam and English | Producer: Shiva Kumar Director: Shiva Kumar | 10,000/- Each |
| Citation: For setting up a new model of the essence of family welfare, through its honest documentation of factors impinging on a child's life. | ||||
| Best Cinematography | Rasayatra | Hindi and English | Cameraman Anoop Jotwani | 10,000/- Each |
| Citation: For his fastidious interpretation through lighting, and the fluidity of his camera operation. | ||||
| Best Audiography | Another Way of Learning | English | Indrajit Neogi and A. M. Padmanabhan | 10,000/- |
| Citation: For together bringing about a quality of sound, which so enhances the acoustic, that the viewer becomes a participant. | ||||
| Best Editing | Rasayatra | Hindi and English | Paresh Kamdar | 10,000/- |
| Citation: For the elegant pace with which he discovers spatial correlatives for the inherent musicality. | ||||
| Best Music Direction | The Myth to the Tree, The Serpent and the Mother | Malayalam | K. P. Udayabhanu | 10,000/- |
| Citation: For his interesting juxtaposition of different strains of music and sound. | ||||
| Special Jury Award | Games We Played in My Youth | English | Soumitra Sarkar | 10,000/- |
| Citation: For a refreshingly whimsical poem, which delights in the surprise of shifts and displacement. | ||||
| Special Mention | Of Tagore and Cinema | English | Arun Kumar Roy | Certificate Only |
| Citation: In acknowledgement of its archival value. | ||||
| The Story of Integration | English | Gautam Haldar | ||
| Citation: In acknowledgement of his painstaking attempt to bring its subject to life. | ||||
| Ormaynde Theerangalil | Malayalam | Kaviyoor Sivaprasad | ||
| Citation: In acknowledgement of his lyrical evocation of the passage of time. | ||||
The awards aim at encouraging study and appreciation of cinema as an art form and dissemination of information and critical appreciation of this art-form through publication of books, articles, reviews etc.
Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)' and cash prize.
| Name of Award | Name of Book | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Book on Cinema | Abhinayam Anubhavam | Malayalam | Author: Bharath Gopi Publisher: P. Bhuvanesan | 15,000/- Each |
| Citation: For his introspective and self-analytical first person account. Abhinayam Anubhavam is serious and wistful at times, as the actor weaves and interesting picture of his interaction with cinema and his colleagues in the medium. The book is as unusual as it is revealing | ||||
| Best Film Critic | English | Rashmi Doraiswamy | 15,000/- | |
| Citation: For her perceptive and in-depth analysis of wide-ranging issues related to cinema, both in India and aboard. Her writing is not only well researched and informative but also represents a convincing point of view. | ||||
Following were the awards not given as no film was found to be suitable for the award: