| Number: | 65 |
| Award: | National Film Awards |
| Awarded For: | Best of Indian cinema in 2017 |
| Award Org: | Directorate of Film Festivals |
| Presenting Org: | Ram Nath Kovind |
| Website: | dff.nic.in |
| Lifetime Achievement: | Vinod Khanna |
| Best Feature: | Village Rockstars |
| Best Non Feature: | Not awarded |
| Best Book: | Matmagi Manipur: The first Manipuri Feature Film |
| Best Critic: | Giridhar Jha |
| Most Wins: | Nagarkirtan Village Rockstars (4) |
| Last: | 64th |
| Next: | 66th |
The 65th National Film Awards ceremony was an event during which the Directorate of Film Festivals presented its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2017 in Indian cinema. The awards were announced on 13 April 2018.[1] The award ceremony was held on 3 May 2018.[2]
The Directorate of Film Festivals invited online entries and the acceptable last date for entries was until 2 March 2018. Feature and Non-Feature Films certified by Central Board of Film Certification between 1 January 2017, and 31 December 2017, were eligible for the film award categories. Books, critical studies, reviews or articles on cinema published in Indian newspapers, magazines, and journals between 1 January 2017, and 31 December 2017, were eligible for the best writing on cinema section. Entries of dubbed, revised or copied versions of a film or translation, abridgements, edited or annotated works and reprints were ineligible for the awards.[3]
For the Feature and Non-Feature Films sections, films in any Indian language, shot on 16 mm, 35 mm, a wider film gauge or a digital format, and released in cinemas, on video or digital formats for home viewing were eligible. Films were required to be certified as a feature film, a featurette or a Documentary/Newsreel/Non-Fiction by the Central Board of Film Certification.[3]
Introduced in 1969, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award is the highest award given to recognise the contributions of film personalities towards the development of Indian cinema and for distinguished contributions to the medium, its growth and promotion."[4]
A committee consisting five eminent personalities from Indian film industry was appointed to evaluate the lifetime achievement award, Dadasaheb Phalke Award.
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 | Village Rockstars | Assamese | Producer: Rima Das Director: Rima Das | 250,000/- Each | |
| Best Debut Film of a Director | Sinjar | Jasari | Producer: Shibu G. Suseelan Director: Pampally | 125,000/- Each | |
| Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment | Telugu | Producer: Prasad Devineni Director: S. S. Rajamouli | 200,000/- Each | ||
| Best Children's Film | Mhorkya | Marathi | Producer: Kalyan Rajmogli Padal Director: Amar Bharat Deokar | 150,000/- Each | |
| Best Direction | Bhayanakam | Malayalam | Jayaraj | 250,000/- |
Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
National Film Awards are also given to the best films in the regional languages of India. Awards for the regional languages are categorised as per their mention in the Eighth schedule of the Constitution of India. Awardees included producers and directors of the film. No films in languages other than those specified in the Schedule VIII of the Constitution were eligible.
| Name of Award | Name of Film | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Feature Film in Assamese | Ishu | Producer: Children's Film Society Director: Utpal Borpujari | 1,00,000/- each | |
| Best Feature Film in Bengali | Mayurakshi | Producer: Firdausul Hasan, Prabal Halder Director: Atanu Ghosh | 1,00,000/- each | |
| Best Feature Film in Gujarati | Dhh | Producer: Amruta Parande Director: Manish Saini | 1,00,000/- each | |
| Best Feature Film in Hindi | Newton | Producer: Drishyam Films Director: Amit V Masurkar | 1,00,000/- each | |
| Best Feature Film in Kannada | Hebbet Ramakka | Producer: S. A. Puttaraju Director: N. R. Nanjunde Gowda | 1,00,000/- each | |
| Best Feature Film in Malayalam | Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum | Producer: Urvasi Theatres Director: Dileesh Pothan | 1,00,000/- each | |
| Best Feature Film in Marathi | Kachcha Limboo | Producer: Mandar Devasthali Director: Prasad Oak | 1,00,000/- each | |
| Best Feature Film in Odia | Hello Arsi | Producer: Ajaya Routray Director: Sambit Mohanty | 1,00,000/- each | |
| Best Feature Film in Tamil | To Let | Producer: Prema Chezhian Director: Chezhiyan | 1,00,000/- each | |
| Best Feature Film in Telugu | The Ghazi Attack | Producer: Prasad V. Potluri Director: Sankalp Reddy | 1,00,000/- each |
| Name of Award | Name of Film | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Feature Film in Jasari | Sinjar | Producer: Shibu G. Suseelan Director: Sandeep Pampally | 1,00,000/- each | |
| Best Feature Film in Ladakhi | Walking with the Wind | Producer: Mahesh Mohan Director: Praveen Morchhale | 1,00,000/- each | |
| Best Feature Film in Tulu | Paddayi | Producer: Nithyananda Pai Director: Abhaya Simha | 1,00,000/- each |
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.
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 | Water Baby | Producer: Varun Shah Director: Pia Shah | 75,000/- Each | |
| Best Biographical Film / Best Historical Reconstruction / Compilation Film | Naachi se Baanchi | Producer: Films Division of India Director: Biju Toppo | 50,000/- Each | |
| Sword of Liberty | Producer: R. C. Suresh Director: Shiny Jacob Benjamin | |||
| Best Arts / Cultural Film | Girija | Producer: Madhu Chandra, Sudha Datta Director: Debapriya Adhikary, Samanwaya Sarkar | 50,000/- Each | |
| Best Environment Film including Best Agricultural Film | The Pangti Story | Producer: Rajiv Mehrotra Director: Sesino Yhoshü | 50,000/- Each | |
| Best Promotional Film | Poetry on Fabric : Chanderinama | Producer: Sanjay Gupta for Pro Art India Director: Rajendra Janglay | 50,000/- Each | |
| Best Film on Social Issues | I am Bonnie | Producer: Films Division of India Director: Satarupa Santra | 50,000/- Each | |
| Veil Done | Producer: Juhi Bhatt Director: Rajiv Mehrotra | |||
| Best Educational / Motivational / Instructional Film | The Little Girl We Were and the Women We Are | Producer: Rahi Foundation Director: Vaishali Sood | 50,000/- Each | |
| Best Anthropological/Ethnographic Film | Name, Place, Animal, Thing | Producer and Director: Nithin R. | 50,000/- Each | |
| Slave Genesis | Producer and Director: Aneez K Mappila | |||
| Best Exploration / Adventure Film (including sports) | Ladakh Chale Richawala | Producer: Films Division of India Director: Indrani Chakrabarti | 50,000/- Each | |
| Best Investigative Film | 1984, When the Sun Didn't Rise | Producer and Director: Teenaa Kaur Pasricha | 50,000/- Each | |
| Best Animation Film | Tokri – The Basket | Producer: Nilima Eriyat Director: Suresh Eriyat Animator: Studio Eeksaurus | 50,000/- Each | |
| The Fish Curry | Hindi English | Producer: Munish Tewari Director and Animator: Abhishek Verma | ||
| Best Short Fiction Film | Mayat | Marathi | Producer and Director: Suyash Shinde | 50,000/- Each |
| Best Film on Family Welfare | Happy Birthday | Producer: FTII Director: Medhpranav Babasaheb Powar | 50,000/- Each | |
| Best Cinematography | Eye Test | Cameraman | 50,000/- Each | |
| Dawn | Cameraman: Arnold Fernandes | |||
| Best Audiography | Pavsacha Nibandh | Marathi | Avinash Sonawane | 50,000/- |
| Best Audiography | The Unreserved | Samarth Mahajan | 50,000/- | |
| Best Editing | Mrityubhoj The Death Feast | Marathi | Sanjiv Monga and Tenzin Kunchok | 50,000/- |
| Best Music Direction | Shored of Liberty | Ramesh Narayanan | 50,000/- | |
| Best Narration / Voice Over | The Lion of Laddak | Francois Castellino | 50,000/- | |
| Special Jury Award | A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings | Producer: Films Division of India Director: Prateek Vats | 50,000/- Each | |
| Monday | Producer: FTII Director: Arun K | |||
| Special Mention | Rebirth | Jayaraj | Certificate only | |
| Cake Story | Rukshana Tabassum | |||
| Afternoon | Swapnil Vasant Kapure |
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 the Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal) accompanied with a cash prize.
| Name of Award | Name of Book | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Book on Cinema | Matmagi Manipur: The first Manipuri Feature Film | Author: Bobby Wahengbam Publisher: Angomningthou Preservation and Documentation | 75,000/- Each | ||
| Best Film Critic | NA | English | Giridhar Jha | 75,000/- | |
| Special Mention (Film Critic) | NA | Hindi | Sunil Mishra | Certificate Only |