| Number: | 4 |
| Award: | National Film Awards |
| Awarded For: | Best of Indian cinema in 1956 |
| Award Org: | Ministry of Information and Broadcasting |
| Presenting Org: | Rajendra Prasad |
| Site: | Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi |
| Website: | dff.nic.in |
| Best Feature: | Kabuliwala |
| Most Wins: | Kabuliwala Tenali Ramakrishna (2) |
| Last: | 3rd |
| Next: | 5th |
The 4th National Film Awards, then known as State Awards for Films, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1956.[1] [2] Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 28 April 1957 and awards were given by then President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad.
Awards were divided into feature films and non-feature films.
President's gold medal for the All India Best Feature Film is now better known as National Film Award for Best Feature Film, whereas President's gold medal for the Best Documentary Film is analogous to today's National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film. For children's films, Prime Minister's gold medal is now given as National Film Award for Best Children's Film. At the regional level, President's silver medal for Best Feature Film is now given as National Film Award for Best Feature Film in a particular language. Certificate of Merit in all the categories is discontinued over the years.
Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For the 4th National Film Awards, in this category, Kabuliwala, a Bengali film, along with a Telugu film, Tenali Ramakrishna won the maximum number of awards (two), with former also winning the President's gold medal for the All India Best Feature Film. Following were the awards given:[1] [2]
For 4th National Film Awards, none of the films were awarded from Children's films category as no film was found to be suitable. Only Certificate of Merit for Children's films was given. Following were the awards given in each category:[1] [2]
| Award | Film | Language | Awardee(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Producer | Director | ||||
| President's gold medal for the All India Best Feature Film | Kabuliwala | Bengali | Charuchitra | Tapan Sinha | |
| All India Certificate of Merit | Bandhan | Hindi | Sircar Productions | Hem Chunder | |
| Tenali Ramakrishna | Telugu | Vikram Productions | B. S. Ranga | ||
| All India Certificate of Merit for Best Children's Film | Jaldeep | Bengali | Children's Film Society | Kidar Sharma | |
The awards were given to the best films made in the regional languages of India. For 4th National Film Awards, President's silver medal for Best Feature Film was not given in Hindi, Kannada and Tamil language; instead Certificate of Merit was awarded in each particular language, whereas no award was given for Assamese, Malayalam and Marathi language films.[1] [2]
| Award | Film | Awardee(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Producer | Director | |||
| Feature Films in Bengali | ||||
| President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Bengali | Kabuliwala | Charuchitra | Tapan Sinha | |
| Certificate of Merit | Mahakavi Girishchandra | Emkeji Productions | Madhu Bose | |
| Ek Din Ratre | R. K. Films | Sombhu Mitra | ||
| Amit Maitra | ||||
| Feature Films in Hindi | ||||
| Certificate of Merit | Basant Bahar | Shri Vishwa Bharati Films | R. Chandra | |
| Feature Films in Kannada | ||||
| Certificate of Merit | Bhakta Vijaya | Jagannath Productions | A. K. Pattabhi | |
| Feature Films in Tamil | ||||
| Certificate of Merit | Kula Dheivam | S. K. Pictures | Krishnan–Panju | |
| Feature Films in Telugu | ||||
| President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Telugu | Tenali Ramakrishna | Vikram Productions | B. S. Ranga | |
| Certificate of Merit | Edi Nijam | Pratibha Productions | S. Balachander | |
Non-feature film awards were given for the documentaries made in the country. Following were the awards given:[1] [2]
| Award | Film | Language | Awardee(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Producer | Director | |||
| President's gold medal for the Best Documentary Film | Gotama The Buddha | English | Bimal Roy Productions | Rajbans Khanna |
| Certificate of Merit | Khajuraho | English | Films Division | M. Wadhwani |
| A Village In Travancore | English | Art Films of Asia Private Ltd. | Fali Billimoria | |
Following were the awards not given as no film was found to be suitable for the award:[1] [2]