National Film Award for Best Actor explained

National Film Award for Best Actor
Awarded For:	Best Performance by an Actor
Sponsor:	Directorate of Film Festivals
Firstawarded:	1967
Lastawarded:	2022
Former Name:	Bharat Award (1968–1974)
Holder Label:	Most recent winner
Holder:	Rishab Shetty
Most Wins:	Amitabh Bachchan (4)
Award1 Type:	Total awarded
Award1 Winner:	61
Award2 Type:	First winner
Award2 Winner:	Uttam Kumar

The National Film Award for Best Actor, officially known as the Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actor (in Hindi pronounced as /rədʒət̪ kəməl/), is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India instituted since 1967 to actors who have delivered the best performance in a leading role within the Indian film industry.^[1] Called the "State Awards for Films" when established in 1954, the National Film Awards ceremony is older than the Directorate of Film Festivals. The State Awards instituted the individual award in 1968 as the "Bharat Award for the Best Actor"; in 1975, it was renamed as the "Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actor".^[2] Throughout the past 45 years, accounting for ties and repeat winners, the Government of India has presented a total of 52 "Best Actor" awards to 40 actors. Until 1974, winners of the National Film Award received a figurine and certificate; since 1975, they have been awarded with a "Rajat Kamal" (silver lotus), certificate and a cash prize.

Although the Indian film industry produces films in around 20 languages and dialects, the actors whose performances have won awards have worked in eight major languages: Hindi (twenty-five awards), Malayalam (fourteen awards), Tamil (nine awards), Bengali (five awards), Marathi, Kannada (four awards), English (two awards), and Telugu (one award).

The first recipient was Uttam Kumar from Bengali cinema, who was honoured at the 15th National Film Awards in 1967 for his performances in Anthony Firingee and Chiriyakhana.^[3] He was also the first actor who won this award for two different films in the same year. As of 2021, Amitabh Bachchan is the most honoured actor with four awards. Kamal Haasan, Mammootty and Ajay Devgn with three awards, while six actors—Mohanlal, Mithun Chakraborty, Sanjeev Kumar, Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah and Dhanush—have won the award two times. Two actors have achieved the honour for performing in two languagesMithun Chakraborty (Hindi and Bengali) and Mammootty (Malayalam and English). The most recent recipient is Rishab Shetty who is honoured at the 70th National Film Awards for his performance in the film Kantara.

Key

Symbol	Meaning
Year	Indicates the year in which the film was censored by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC)
align=center style="background-color:#ADD8E6"		Indicates a joint award for that year
	Indicates that the winner won the award for two performances in that year

Recipients

Year! scope="col"

Recipient(s)	Role(s)	Work(s)	Language(s)	"
	Uttam Kumar	Anthony Firingee	Antony Firingee	Bengali	^[4]
Byomkesh Bakshi		Chiriyakhana
1968	Ashok Kumar	Shivnath "Joggi Thakur" Choudhary	Aashirwad	Hindi	^[5]
1969	Utpal Dutt	Bhuvan Shome	Bhuvan Shome	Hindi	^[6]
1970	Sanjeev Kumar	Hamid Ahmed	Dastak	Hindi	^[7]
1971	M. G. Ramachandran	Selvam	Rickshawkaran	Tamil	^[8]
1972	Sanjeev Kumar	Hari Charan Mathur	Koshish	Hindi
1973	P. J. Antony	Velichapad	Nirmalyam	Malayalam
1974	Sadhu Meher	Kishtayya	Ankur	Hindi	^[9]
1975	M. V. Vasudeva Rao	Choma	Chomana Dudi	Kannada	^[10]
1976	Mithun Chakraborty	Ghinua	Mrigayaa	Hindi
1977	Bharath Gopi	Shankaran Kutty	Kodiyettam	Malayalam	^[11]
1978	Arun Mukherjee	Parasuram	Parasuram	Bengali	^[12]
1979	Naseeruddin Shah	Anirudh Parmar	Sparsh	Hindi
1980	Balan K. Nair	Govindan	Oppol	Malayalam	^[13]
1981	Om Puri	Hari Mondal	Arohan	Hindi	^[14]
1982	Kamal Haasan	R. Srinivas	Moondram Pirai	Tamil	^[15]
1983	Om Puri	Anant Velankar	Ardh Satya	Hindi	^[16]
1984	Naseeruddin Shah	Naurangia	Paar	Hindi	^[17]
1985	Shashi Kapoor	Vikas Pande	New Delhi Times	Hindi	^[18]
1986	Charuhasan	Tabara Shetty	Tabarana Kathe	Kannada	^[19]
1987	Kamal Haasan	Sakthivelu Nayakar	Nayakan	Tamil	^[20]
1988	Premji	Raghava Chakyar	Piravi	Malayalam	^[21]
	Mammootty	Vaikom Muhammad Basheer	Mathilukal	Malayalam
Chandu Chekavar		Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha
1990	Amitabh Bachchan	Vijay Deenanath Chauhan	Agneepath	Hindi	^[22]
1991	Mohanlal	Kalliyur Gopinathan	Bharatham	Malayalam	^[23]
1992	Mithun Chakraborty	Shibnath	Tahader Katha	Bengali	^[24]
	Mammootty	Ponthan Mada	Ponthan Mada	Malayalam	^[25]
Bhaskara Patelar		Vidheyan
1994	Nana Patekar	Pratap Narayan Tilak	Krantiveer	Hindi	^[26]
1995	Rajit Kapur	Mahatma Gandhi	The Making of the Mahatma	English	^[27]
1996	Kamal Haasan	Senapathy , Chandrabose	Indian	Tamil	^[28]
	Balachandra Menon	Ismail	Samaantharangal	Malayalam	^[29]
Suresh Gopi	Kannan Perumalayan	Kaliyattam	Malayalam
	Ajay Devgn	Ajay R. Desai	Zakhm	Hindi	^[30]
Mammootty	B. R. Ambedkar	Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar	English
1999	Mohanlal	Kunjikuttan	Vanaprastham	Malayalam	^[31]
2000	Anil Kapoor	Major Jaidev Rajvansh	Pukar	Hindi	^[32]
2001	Murali	Appa Mestry	Neythukaran	Malayalam	^[33]
2002	Ajay Devgn	Bhagat Singh	The Legend of Bhagat Singh	Hindi	^[34]
2003	Vikram	Chithan	Pithamagan	Tamil	^[35]
2004	Saif Ali Khan	Karan Kapoor	Hum Tum	Hindi	^[36]
2005	Amitabh Bachchan	Debraj Sahai	Black	Hindi	^[37]
2006	Soumitra Chatterjee	Shashanka Palit	Podokkhep	Bengali	^[38]
2007	Prakash Raj	Vengadam	Kanchivaram	Tamil	^[39]
2008	Upendra Limaye	Tayappa	Jogwa	Marathi	^[40]
2009	Amitabh Bachchan	Auro	Paa	Hindi	^[41]
	Dhanush	K. P. Karuppu	Aadukalam	Tamil	^[42]
Salim Kumar	Abu	Adaminte Makan Abu	Malayalam
2011	Girish Kulkarni	Keshya	Deool	Marathi	^[43]
	Irrfan Khan	Paan Singh Tomar	Paan Singh Tomar	Hindi
Vikram Gokhale	Ratnakar	Anumati	Marathi
	Rajkummar Rao	Shahid Azmi	Shahid	Hindi	^[44]
Suraj Venjaramoodu	Father	Perariyathavar	Malayalam
2014	Sanchari Vijay	Madesha	Naanu Avanalla...Avalu	Kannada	^[45]
2015	Amitabh Bachchan	Bhashkor Banerjee	Piku	Hindi	^[46]
2016	Akshay Kumar	Commander Rustom Pavri	Rustom	Hindi	^[47]
2017	Riddhi Sen	Parimal	Nagarkirtan	Bengali	^[48]
	Ayushmann Khurrana	Akash	Andhadhun	Hindi
Vicky Kaushal	Major Vihaan Singh Shergill		Hindi
	Manoj Bajpayee	Ganpath Bhonsle	Bhonsle	Hindi	^[49]
Dhanush	Sivasaami	Asuran	Tamil
	Suriya	Nedumaaran Rajangam (Maara)	Soorarai Pottru	Tamil	^[50]
Ajay Devgn	Tanaji Malusare		Hindi
2021	Allu Arjun	Molleti Pushpa Raj		Telugu	^[51]
2022	Rishab Shetty	Shiva	Kantara	Kannada	^[52]

External links

• Official Page for Directorate of Film Festivals, India
• National Film Awards Archives

Notes and References

1. Web site: About National Film Awards . . 31 July 2011 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20111025223102/http://dff.nic.in/nfa.asp . 25 October 2011 .
2. Web site: 21st National Awards For Films (1974) . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 16. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110928071446/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm21stNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=21NFA.pdf . 28 September 2011 .
3. Web site: National Awards for Films: Uttam Kumar (1967) . Directorate of Film Festivals . 25 November 1968 . 31 July 2011 . 29 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110928071652/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm15thNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=15NFA.pdf . 28 September 2011 .
4. Web site: 14th National Film Awards For Films (1968) . Directorate of Film Festivals . 25 November 1968 . 30 July 2011 . 4. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110928071652/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm15thNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=15NFA.pdf . 28 September 2011 .
5. Web site: 16th National Awards For Films (1969) . Directorate of Film Festivals . 13 February 1970 . 30 July 2011 . 4. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110721170733/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm16thNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=16NFA.pdf . 21 July 2011 .
6. Book: Indian popular cinema: a narrative of cultural change . Trentham Books . Gokulsing, K. . Dissanayake, Wimal . amp . 2004 . 97 . 1-85856-329-1.
7. Web site: 20th National Awards For Films (1971) . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 41. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110721170649/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm20thNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=20NFA.pdf . 21 July 2011 .
8. Web site: About MGR – Dr. M. G. Ramachandran . mgrhome.org. MGR Memorial Charitable Trust . 2 August 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110821211923/http://mgrhome.org/mgr.html . 21 August 2011 .
9. Web site: 22nd National Film Festival (1975) . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 14. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110928072522/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm22ndNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=22NFA.pdf . 28 September 2011 .
10. Web site: 23rd National Film Festival (1976) . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 6. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110526091043/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm23rdNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=23NFA.pdf . 26 May 2011 .
11. Web site: 25th National Film Festival (1978) . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 7. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110721170417/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm25thNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=27NFA.pdf . 21 July 2011 .
12. Book: The Times of India directory & yearbook, including who's who . . 1980 .
13. Web site: 28th National Film Festival (1981) . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 12. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110721170352/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm28thNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=28NFA.pdf . 21 July 2011 .
14. Web site: 29th National Film Festival (1982) . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 10. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110721170327/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm29thNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=29NFA.pdf . 21 July 2011 .
15. Web site: 30th National Film Festival (1983) . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 12. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141216074858/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm30thNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=30NFA.pdf . 16 December 2014 .
16. Web site: 31st National Film Festival June 1984 . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 12. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110721170213/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm31stNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=31NFA.pdf . 21 July 2011 .
17. Web site: 32nd National Film Festival (1985) . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 12. hi . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110928072238/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm32ndNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=32NFA.pdf . 28 September 2011 .
18. Encyclopedia: Kapoor, Shashi (b. 1938) . Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema . Popular Prakashan . Chatterjee, Saibal . Nihalani, Govind & Guljar . 2003 . Delhi . 568 . 81-7991-066-0.
19. Web site: 34th National Film Awards 1987 . Directorate of Film Festivals . 16 August 2013 . 24 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170205060141/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm34ndNFAAward.aspx . 5 February 2017 .
20. Web site: Award for the Best Actor . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 26. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110721170111/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm35thNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=35NFA.pdf . 21 July 2011 .
21. News: Smooth sailing . . 17 September 2010 . 2 August 2011 . Nagarajan, Saraswathy . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20100921073358/http://www.thehindu.com/arts/cinema/article677749.ece . 21 September 2010 .
22. Web site: Award for the Best Actor . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 26. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120326034004/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm38thNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=38NFA.pdf . 26 March 2012 .
23. Web site: Award for the Best Actor . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 36. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110721170014/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm39thNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=39NFA.pdf . 21 July 2011 .
24. Web site: 40th National Film Festival . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 38–39. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151008114601/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm40thNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=40NFA.pdf . 8 October 2015 .
25. Web site: Award for the Best Actor . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 34–35. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110928072259/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm41thNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=41NFA.pdf . 28 September 2011 .
26. Web site: Award for the Best Actor . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 24. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121012140929/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm42thNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=42NFA.pdf . 12 October 2012 .
27. Web site: Award for the Best Actor . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 24. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110721165908/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm43thNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=43NFA.pdf . 21 July 2011 .
28. Web site: Award for the Best Actor . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 22. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110928072421/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm44thNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=44NFA.pdf . 28 September 2011 .
29. Web site: Award for the Best Actor . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 24. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110928072336/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm45thNFAAward.aspx?PdfName=45NFA.pdf . 28 September 2011 .
30. Web site: Award for the Best Actor . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 24. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130130000622/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm46NFAAward.aspx?PdfName=46NFA.pdf . 30 January 2013 .
31. Web site: Award for the Best Actor . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 24. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110928072346/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm47NFAAward.aspx?PdfName=47NFA.pdf . 28 September 2011 .
32. Web site: Award for the Best Actor . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 40. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121016222029/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm48NFAAward.aspx?PdfName=48NFA.pdf . 16 October 2012 .
33. Web site: Award for the Best Actor . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 30. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110928072715/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm49NFAAward.aspx?PdfName=46NFA.pdf . 28 September 2011 .
34. News: Standing ovation for Dev Anand . The Tribune . 30 December 2003 . . Tribune News Service . 30 July 2011 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20121102045644/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20031230/main7.htm . 2 November 2012 .
35. Web site: Award for the Best Actor . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 28. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110928072742/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm51NFAAward.aspx?PdfName=51NFA.pdf . 28 September 2011 .
36. Web site: Award for the Best Actor . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 28. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110928072807/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm52NFAAward.aspx?PdfName=52NFA.pdf . 28 September 2011 .
37. Web site: Award for the Best Actor . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 28. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110928072908/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm53NFAAward.aspx?PdfName=53NFA.pdf . 28 September 2011 .
38. Web site: Award for the Best Actor . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 26. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110928072942/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm54NFAAward.aspx?PdfName=54NFA.pdf . 28 September 2011 .
39. Web site: Award for the Best Actor . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 32. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110928073005/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm55NFAAward.aspx?PdfName=55NFA.pdf . 28 September 2011 .
40. Web site: Award for the Best Actor . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 34. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130130000605/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm56NFAAward.aspx?PdfName=56NFA.pdf . 30 January 2013 .
41. Web site: Award for the Best Actor . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 64. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110729193829/http://www.iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm57NFAAward.aspx?PdfName=57NFA.pdf . 29 July 2011 .
42. Web site: Award for the Best Actor . Directorate of Film Festivals . 30 July 2011 . 3. live . https://web.archive.org/web/20110708120534/http://dff.nic.in/Press%20Release%20-%2058th%20National%20Film%20Awards%20Winners%202010.pdf . 8 July 2011 .
43. Web site: 59th National Film Awards for 2011 – Feature Films . . 2 April 2012. live . https://web.archive.org/web/20131105181840/http://dff.nic.in/Pagesfrom59thNFAPressRelease-featured.pdf . 5 November 2013 .
44. 61st National Film Awards Announced. Press Information Bureau (PIB), India. 16 April 2014. 16 April 2014.
45. Web site: 62nd National Awards: Kangana Ranaut wins Best Actress for 'Queen', Vijay wins Best Actor for 'Nanu Avanalla Avalu' . The Times of India. 24 March 2015 . 24 March 2015 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150324182140/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/62nd-National-Awards-Kangana-Ranaut-wins-Best-Actress-for-Queen-Vijay-wins-Best-Actor-for-Nanu-Avanalla-Avalu/articleshow/46675893.cms . 24 March 2015 .
46. News: 63rd National Film Awards: List of winners . The Times of India. 28 March 2013 . 28 March 2016 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160331075309/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/63rd-National-Film-Awards-List-of-winners/articleshow/51580133.cms . 31 March 2016 .
47. 64 th National Film Awards, 2016. Directorate of Film Festivals. 89. 4 April 2018. 4 April 2018. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20170606051143/http://dff.nic.in/writereaddata/NFA64PressNote2016.pdf. 6 June 2017.
48. 65th National Film Awards . 21 . Directorate of Film Festivals . 13 July 2017 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170606051143/http://dff.nic.in/writereaddata/NFA64PressNote2016.pdf . 6 June 2017.
49. News: The Hindu Net Desk. 2021-03-22. 67th National Film Awards: Complete list of winners. en-IN. The Hindu. 2021-03-22. 0971-751X.
50. News: 2022-07-22 . 68th National Film Awards Soorarai Pottru wins Best Film award . en-IN . The Hindu . 2022-07-23 . 0971-751X.
51. Web site: 69th National Film Awards 2023 complete winners list: Rocketry, Alia Bhatt, Kriti Sanon, Allu Arjun, RRR, Gangubai Kathiawadi win big. 24 August 2023.
52. Web site: Desk . DH Web . National Film Awards Live: Kannada cinema shines bright as KGF 2, Kantara bag wins, Rishab Shetty gets best actor prize . 2024-08-16 . Deccan Herald . en.