The National Film Awards

The National Film Awards is the most important film award ceremony organized in India. Established in late 1954, this is administrated by the Indian government's Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973.Every year, a national panel that is appointed by the government choose the winning entry, and the award ceremony is organized in New Delhi, where the President of India gives away the awards. This is followed by the investiture of the National Film Festival,
where the award-winning movies are screened for the public. Announced for flicks produced in the previous year worldwide, they hold the division of awarding worth to the best of Indian cinema on the whole, as well as presenting awards for the best movies in each region and language of the country.A list of rules is presented every year in a document of regulation chart known as the National Film Award Regulations. The criteria for eligibility surrounds many norms. Among them, there is a direct requirement for the makers of a movie, and most important the filmmaker, to be Indian nationals.

Films entering the competition should be produced in India, and in case of co-production involving a international country,there are as many as six conditions which should be accomplished in order for the movie to make the grade. According to the terms, in order to be eligible for consideration of the jury, a flick should be most probably certified by the Central Board of Film Certification between January 1 and December 31st. Whether a project is acknowledged a feature film or a non-feature film shall be decided by the Feature Film jury. The eligibility list involve a section of rules and regulations shaping which films shall not by eligible for entry in the competition.

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National Film Awards

The National Film Awards as said were first presented in 1954. The Government Of India conceived the ceremony to honour films made across India, on a national level, to encourage the furthering of Indian art and culture. The National Film Awards is considered as the most prominent film award ceremony in India.


Every year, a national panel which is appointed by the government selects the winning entry, and the award ceremony is held in the capital, New Delhi, where the President of India gives away the awards. Declared for movies produced in the previous year across the country, they hold the distinction of awarding merit to the best of Indian cinema, overall, as well as in a way to present awards for the best films in each region and language of the country.

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RajKumar Hirani, Vinod Chopra’s hat-trick with 3 Idiots

During the 57th National Film Awards for the year 2009, the movie 3 Idiots was declared as the most popular film for providing the complete entertainment. Everybody related to the team of 3 Idiots was very much happy when the movie’s name was announced for the award.


Among the most happy ones were the director and producer of 3 Idiots who stated that it was indeed a proud moment for all of them. The reason why Rajkumar Hirani – director of 3 Idiots and Vinod Chopra – producer of 3 Idiots were especially happy during this occasion of National Film Awards was that it was their third national honour, a hat-trick, as director and producer. In the past, their movies like Lage Raho Munna Bhai and Munnabhai M.B.B.S. had bagged the national awards.

Vinod Chopra was quoted saying that he was away for some pre-production work for his upcoming movie and when he got back, he heard this news and an overwhelming, welcoming response from the people. The famous producer further added that it was an honourable moment for their production house too. He also thanked the entire team of 3 Idiots for their hard work, dedication and support for the movie.

Digital films to be accepted by National Film Awards committee

From now on, the National Film Awards committee will start accepting the digital films too for the awards. Even if these films are not released with a celluloid print, these digital films can be submitted. In fact a petition was filed by filmmakers of Manipur. At Manipur the theaters have been closed because of militancy and the filmmaking there has gone completely digital.


That is why this decision has been taken by the committee. This committee was led by filmmaker Shyam Benegal. The new changes will take place from National Film awards 2009 onwards. These National Film awards 2009 are likely to be announced on September 15.

The good change is that the cash prize for the Best Film has been increased to the amount of Rs 1.5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh. This amount will be given to both the director and producer. The cash prize for the Best Debut Non-Feature Film Award has been raised from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000.

More significance to regional language films at the National Film Awards

In order to provide more significance and spotlight to the regional language films at the National Film Awards, the government has decided to soon introduce a new two-tier selection system. The delayed selections for the year 2009 Awards will be announced under the new system.

This decision comes on the basis of recommendations which was submitted by an expert committee. This committee was headed by filmmaker Shyam Benegal.
For this new procedure, five regional panels will be constituted to select the various best films in their own areas. Then a central jury will make the final award decision.

The northern region will include films in languages like English, Punjabi, Dogri, Urdu, Bhojpuri, Rajasthani and central Indian languages. The western region will include films of Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati and Konkani languages. Similarly the other regions will also have certain categories.

Mr. and Mrs. Iyer and its bag full of awards

Mr. and Mrs. Iyer is an Indian drama film which was released in 2002. This movie was written and directed by Aparna Sen. N. Venkatesan was the producer of this movie. The movie had Rahul Bose and Konkana Sen in the lead roles. Basically the movie throws a light on our national integration and at the same time it also portrays the tension and stress during riots.

Konkona Sen Sharma has played the role as Meenakshi Iyer, a Tamil Iyer Brahmin who is a Hindu and married. On the other hand, Rahul Bose portrays the character of Raja Chowdhury, a Muslim wildlife photographer. You may have a look at the Awards and Achievements of the movie which are given below :

* Mr. and Mrs. Iyer was premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland

* Konkana Sen won the National Award for Best Actress in 2003 for Mr. and Mrs Iyer.

* Konkana Sen also won the Silver Lotus Award of Best Actress for Mr. and Mrs Iyer.

* During the 50th National Film Awards, Aparna Sen got the award of Best direction for 'Mr and Mrs Iyer'.

* Mr. and Mrs Iyer won the Golden Maile award at the Hawaii International Film Festival.

* The movie also won Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration in India during the 50th National Film Awards.

The movie also got a good response among the Indian audience. It was met with critical acclaim on its release and won several other national and international awards.The movie had the mixture of three languages as Hindi, English and Tamil.

National Film Awards

The National Film Awards is of the prominent award in India. It was established in 1954 the Indian government. Every year, the government selects the winning entry and the award held in New Delhi, where President of India gives the awards. National Film Awards is considered equivalent to the American Academy Awards.


The Awards are presented to feature films produced in the previous year, given in the following categories:

Golden Lotus Award

* Best Film
* Best Direction
* Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment
* Best Children's Film

Silver Lotus Award

* Best Actor
* Best Actress
* Best Supporting Actor
* Best Supporting Actress
* Best Child Artist
* Best Cinematography
* Best Screenplay
* Best Art Direction
* Best Make-up Artist
* Best Costume Design
* Best Music Direction
* Best Lyrics
* Best Male Playback Singer
* Best Female Playback Singer
* Best Choreography
* Best Audiography
* Best Editing
* Best Special Effects
* Second Best Feature Film
* Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Feature Film)

Ambika Soni hold meeting for NFA and IFFI

Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni,called for meetings with two different committees formed for the purpose to better the International Film Festival of India and revamp the National Film Awards to make it look "au courant".
Film maker Shyam Benegal and Censor Board Chairperson Sharmila Tagore were present at the meeting held for the National Film Awards.Opinions on how to to upgrade the awards were exchanged.The committee is expected to submit its report by 15th of March,2010 which will contain suggestions to make the NFA more in with times by making qualitative changes.

The second meeting was held with the experts for International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and its improvisation so that a bigger and a better market can be captured for Indian films. The report for the same will be submitted by the committee again on the 15th of March,2010.The commitee members who attended the meeting were Chairman of the Committee Kamal Hasan,Pritish Nandy,Prasoon Joshi and NFA chairman Shyam Benegal.Other film makers who were present at the meeting were Ashok Vishwanathan, Jahnu Baruah, Mohan Agashe, Nagesh Kuknoor, Rajiv Mehrotra, Shajin Karun, Vishal Bhardwaj and Sai Paranjapye.

Ambika Soni expressed the desire for a definite time schedule to be sketched out so that NFA can be carried out on a timely basis and it is ensured that a proper,democratic and transparent procedure is adopted avoiding any king of litigation.

Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film

The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. These awards were established in 1954, and administrated by the Indian government's Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973. Nargis Dutt Award is given to the Best Feature film on National Integration.

The list of the winners of the Nargis Dutt Awards are as follows-

* 2008 Dharm
* 2005 Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero
* 2004 Pinjar
* 2001 Pukar
* 1999 Zakhm
* 1998 Border
* 1994 Sardar
* 1988 Tamas
* 1985 Aadmi Aur Aurat
* 1984 Sookha
* 1975 Parinay
* 1974 Garam Hawa
* 1972 Do Boond Pani
* 1970 Saat Hindustani
* 1967 Subhash Chandra
* 1966 Shaheed

All these Bollywood films have best dealt with themes relating to National Integration in India.

National Film Awards for 2007

55th National Film Awards for 2007 were held on October 21, 2009 and the awards were presented by President Pratibha Patil. Biggest names from the Indian cinema presented the trophies for their renowned works.




This year Dada Saheb Phalke Award was conferred upon eminent play back singer Manna Dey. Also veteran director Adoor Gopalakrishnan and actress Uma Shree collected their trophies as National Award winners for 2007.

According to an official release Best Feature Film award was presented to Tamil film 'Kanchivaram' and 'Chak De India' received the award in Wholesome Entertainment Category.

These awards aimed to appreciate excellence and promote unity of the nation. The awards were given in feature film as well as non feature film section. In the feature film section, the awards were given in 31 categories, which included Award for Best Feature Film, Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a director, Award For Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, Award For Best Direction, Actor, Actress, Editing, Lyrics and Choreography. In the non-feature film section, awards were given in 22 categories like Best Non-Feature Film, Best Biographical/Historical Reconstruction/Compilation Film, Special Jury Award and Best Audiography.

Awards won by legendary Lata Mangeshkar

Beginning early at age of 13, Lata Mangeshkar's career as a playback singer spans over six decades. Apart from singing for 982 Hindi films, she has also lent her voice to many films in regional languages. So, she holds the Guinness Book of World Record title for having made the most number of recordings in the world.With all modesty Mangeshkar herself stated that she does not keep a record of the number of songs recorded by her, and that she did not know from where Guinness Book editors got their information.




She has been honoured with innumerable awards but the one that truly deserves a special mention is that she is the only second singer in the non-classical category in India to have received the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award. She is also the fifth woman to receive the Bharat Ratna, after Indira Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Aruna Asaf Ali and M.S Subbalakshmi.

Several other awards and honors, including Padma Bhushan (1969), Padma Vibhushan (1999), Dada Saheb Phalke Award (1989), NTR National Award (1999), three National Film Awards, and 12 Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards has been bestowed on this magnanimous personality. It is interesting to note that from the year 1958 to 1966 no other female singer was able to get the Filmfare award. After 1969, she even made the unusual gesture of giving up Filmfare awards in favour of fresh talent.She was later awarded Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993.

In 1984, the State Government of Madhya Pradesh instituted the Lata Mangeshkar Award in honor of Lata Mangeshkar. The State Government of Maharashtra followed suit in 1992.

Further, Lataji brought in many constructive changes in Hindi film music which proved to be extremely beneficial for singers in the long run. She is the first singer to introduce the royalty system for singers in the industry. In fact, she is the one who insisted that the singer's name should be published with the songs instead of actors.

Her revolutionary ideas irked many bigwigs who tried to stop her, but she stayed firm. For instance she stopped singing with legendary singer Mohammed Rafi and even refused to sing for SD Burman, apart from other legendary composers from 1957 to 62, because her demand for royalty was not met.

Even today, her voice continues to be the most preferred one. Hope to hear more songs from Lataji that will remain in our minds forever.

Honours bestowed on A R Rahman

The success of A.R. Rehman will be archived with every award he would
receive in India as well as Internationally. A host of awards have
been acquired along the way-a Padma Shri, four national film awards,
four IIFA awards, 12 screen awards, 21 Filmfare awards,and six Zee
awards.

Here are a mention of the Indian Awards bestowed on A R Rahman.

Indian Awards

Civilian Honors
Filmfare Awards
1995 – Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent
1996 – Filmfare Best Music Director Award – Rangeela
1999 – Filmfare Best Music Director Award – Dil Se
2000 – Filmfare Best Music Director Award – Taal
2002 – Filmfare Best Music Director Award – Lagaan
2003 – Filmfare Best Music Director Award – Saathiya
2003 – Filmfare Best Background Score – The Legend of Bhagat Singh
2005 – Filmfare Best Background Score – Swades
2007 – Filmfare Best Music Director Award – Rang de Basanti
2008 – Filmfare Best Music Director Award – Guru
2008 – Filmfare Best Background Score – Guru

Global Indian Film Awards (GIFA)
2007 – GIFA Award for Best Music – Rang De Basanti
2007 – GIFA Award for Best Background Music – Rang De Basanti

International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) (India)
2000 – IIFA Best Music Direction – Taal
2002 – IIFA Best Music Direction – Lagaan
2003 – IIFA Best Music Direction – Saathiya
2007 – IIFA Best Music Direction – Rang De Basanti
2008 – IIFA Best Music Direction – Guru
2008 – IIFA Best Background Music – Guru
2008 – Outstanding contribution by an Indian in International Cinema



National Film Awards (India)
1993 – National Film Award for Best Music Direction – Roja
1997 – National Film Award for Best Music Direction – Minsaara Kanavu
2002 – National Film Award for Best Music Direction – Lagaan
2003 – National Film Award for Best Music Direction – Kannathil Muthamittal



Screen-Videocon Awards / Star Screen Awards (India)
1997 – Best Music – Kadhal Desam (South awards edition – Tamil)
1997 – Best Music Direction – Minsara Kanavu (South awards edition – Tamil)
1998 – Best Non-film Album – Vande Mataram (Non-film category)
2000 – Best Music Direction – Taal
2007 – Best Background Music- Rang De Basanti
2008 – Best Music Direction – Guru
2008 – Best Background Music – Guru
2009 – Best Music Direction – Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na
2009 – Best Background Music – Jodhaa Akbar


Zee Cine Awards (India)
2000 – Zee Cine Award Best Music Director – Taal
2002 – Zee Cine Award Best Music Director – Lagaan
2003 – Zee Cine Award Best Music Director – Saathiya
2007 – Zee Cine Award Best Music Director – Rang De Basanti
2008 – Zee Cine Award Best Music Director – Guru
2008 – Zee Cine Award Best Background Music – Guru

And the list will only enhance in size and qulaity...cheers!