National Film Award for Best Direction

The National Film Award for Best Direction is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, India, and was constituted in 1967. This is one of the Golden Lotus Awards (Swarna Kamal) given among National Film Awards. It is announced for films produced in a year across the country, in all Indian languages. As of 2014, Satyajit Ray is the most frequent winner with six awards,followed by the 5 time winner Adoor Gopalakrishnan.

The award winners for Best Direction are given below. The award comprises a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a cash prize of ₹ 2,50,000/- and a certificate.

Awards

Cash prize amount varied over the period. Following table illustrates the cash prize amount over the years:

Winners

List of award recipients, showing the year (award ceremony), film(s), language(s) and citation
Year	Image	Director(s)	Film(s)	Language(s)	Citation	Refs.
1967 (15th)		Satyajit Ray	Chiriyakhana	Bengali	–	[1]
1968 (16th)		Satyajit Ray	Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne	Bengali	–	[2]
1969 (17th)		Mrinal Sen	Bhuvan Shome	Hindi	–	[3]
1970 (18th)		Satyajit Ray	Pratidwandi	Bengali	–	[4]
1971 (19th)		Girish Karnad	Vamsha Vriksha	Kannada	–	[5]
	–	B. V. Karanth
1972 (20th)		Adoor Gopalakrishnan	Swayamvaram	Malayalam	–	[6]
1973 (21st)	–	Mani Kaul	Duvidha	Hindi	–	[7]
1974 (22nd)		Satyajit Ray	Sonar Kella	Bengali	–	[8]
1975 (23rd)		Satyajit Ray	Jana Aranya	Bengali	–	[9]
1976 (24th)	–	P. Lankesh	Pallavi	Kannada	–	[10]
1977 (25th)	–	G. Aravindan	Kanchana Sita	Malayalam	For its courageous and uncompromising exploration of an ancient epic through a pronouncedly new cinematic language, for making the camera speak more eloquently than the introspective characters of the Ramayana, for projecting the interior landscape of the protagonists against the vast backdrop of nature, for matching profound philosophical ideas with astonishing evocations of the beauties of the physical world.	[11]
1978 (26th)	–	G. Aravindan	Thampu	Malayalam	For creating a truly director's film which effectively brings out the pathos and ennui in the life of village circus artists and their audience.	[12]
1979 (27th)		Mrinal Sen	Ek Din Pratidin	Bengali	–	[13]
1980 (28th)		Mrinal Sen	Akaler Shandhaney	Bengali	For exploring the inevitable conflict between urban and rural cultures, for displaying in almost every sequence masterly handling and complete command over the medium.	[14]
1981 (29th)		Aparna Sen	36 Chowringhee Lane	English	For effectively orchestrating the creative and technical elements in her first film, for a poignant portrayal of loneliness in old age and for bringing to the screen a true-to-life situation in post-independence India.	[15]
1982 (30th)	–	Utpalendu Chakrabarty	Chokh	Bengali	For his merciless expose of several aspects of social injustice with admirable command over his medium.	[16]
1983 (31st)		Mrinal Sen	Khandhar	Hindi	For its subtle blending of nostalgia and contemporary social comment and the powerful visual exploration of the theme.	[17]
1984 (32nd)		Adoor Gopalakrishnan	Mukhamukham	Malayalam	–	[18]
1985 (33rd)		Shyam Benegal	Trikal	Hindi	For the masterly treatment of an unusual story which, through subtle and sensitive handling, brings out the conflicts in a family trapped in strange memories and situations.	[19]
1986 (34th)	–	G. Aravindan	Oridathu	Malayalam	For his masterly and powerful depiction of changing society reeling under the onslaught of technical progress.	[20]
1987 (35th)		Adoor Gopalakrishnan	Anantaram	Malayalam	For the exceptional mastery of the craft in dealing with a very complex and unusual subject for the cinema.	[21]
1988 (36th)		Shaji N. Karun	Piravi	Malayalam	For remarkable success in accomplishing fusion of various elements and creating new heights of cinematic aesthetics.	[22]
1989 (37th)		Adoor Gopalakrishnan	Mathilukal	Malayalam	For successfully capturing the spirit of the short story on his prison days by the celebrated writer Vaikkom Mohammed Basheer.	[23]
1990 (38th)	–	Tapan Sinha	Ek Doctor Ki Maut	Hindi	For having presented a contemporary problem with courage, subtlety and finesse.	[24]
1991 (39th)		Satyajit Ray	Agantuk	Bengali	For the outstanding craftsmanship and the command over the language of cinema he employed in creating a remarkable cinematic experience.	[25]
1992 (40th)		Goutom Ghosh	Padma Nadir Majhi	Bengali	For his stunningly convincing realisation of Manik Bandopadhyay's novel into a breathtaking cinematic experience.	[26]
1993 (41st)		T. V. Chandran	Ponthan Mada	Malayalam	For a masterly rendering of a whole range of human experience into celluloid poetry.	[27]
1994 (42nd)		Jahnu Barua	Xagoroloi Bohudoor	Assamese	For capturing Assamese life and reality in an original format uniquely associated with the director, and for enriching the spectrum of Indian Cinema thereby.	[28]
1995 (43rd)	–	Saeed Akhtar Mirza	Naseem	Hindi	For the deeply moving portrayal of a family in turmoil in the midst of communal disharmony with lyrical quality and brilliant cinematic touches.	[29]
1996 (44th)	–	Agathiyan	Kadhal Kottai	Tamil	For a brilliantly knit plot, maintaining the tempo and rhythms of an unusual love story till end.	[30]
1997 (45th)		Jayaraj	Kaliyattam	Malayalam	For successfully transplanting the classic play by keeping the traditional "Theyyam" art form as a backdrop and weaving an extremely tight story, never losing control of the medium.	[31]
1998 (46th)	–	Rajeevnath	Janani	Malayalam	For a warmly compassionate film where subject and treatment are in perfect harmony.	[32]
1999 (47th)	–	Buddhadeb Dasgupta	Uttara	Bengali	For his skillful weaving together of different strands of life through metaphors, symbols and folk icons, to question the definition of humanity in our scoundrel times.	[33]
2000 (48th)		Rituparno Ghosh	Utsab	Bengali	For working with a large group of actors within the confines of a rambling old house. The director builds an unpretentious, gripping and entirely credible narrative and brings about in the process some extremely powerful performances.	[34]
2001 (49th)	–	B. Lenin	Ooruku Nooruper	Tamil	For telling the eventful story of a revolutionary who has killed for his cause and awarded the death sentence for his crime. It further looks at the issue of capital punishment.	[35]
2002 (50th)		Aparna Sen	Mr. and Mrs. Iyer	English	For her effective and subtle handling of people caught in a trying and difficult times.	[36]
2003 (51st)		Goutom Ghosh	Abar Aranye	Bengali	For his complex weaving of human destines across a wide range of socio-political and cinematic histories.	[37]
2004 (52nd)	–	Buddhadeb Dasgupta	Swapner Din	Bengali	For his appropriate usage of metaphors and complex handling of socio political situation present in West Bengal in a language simultaneously cinematic and poetic.	[38]
2005 (53rd)		Rahul Dholakia	Parzania	English	For the compelling documentation of contemporary human lives trapped in difficult times of communal hatred and violence.	[39]
2006 (54th)		Madhur Bhandarkar	Traffic Signal	Hindi	For weaving in the lives, livelihoods and concerns of the street dwellers in a metro and the inspiring stand that makes the protagonist a role model across society.	[40]
2007 (55th)		Adoor Gopalakrishnan	Naalu Pennungal	Malayalam	For his delicate and subtle handling of gender issues in a conventional society. Four women of different marital status are trivialized and subjected to abject neglect by their immediate partners and family.	[41]
2008 (56th)		Bala	Naan Kadavul	Tamil	For its powerful handling of an extraordinary subject that focuses on marginal characters with great convection.	[42]
2009 (57th)		Rituparno Ghosh	Abohoman	Bengali	For the many layered narrative of emotional conflict, rich texture and ensemble performances.	[43]
2010 (58th)		Vetrimaaran	Aadukalam	Tamil	For a gritty tale of love, jealousy and betrayal in the midst of bloodsport and violence, in the manner of realistic cinema.	[44]
2011 (59th)	–	Gurvinder Singh	Anhe Ghore Da Daan	Punjabi	For its haunting portrayal of the lives of people in a village as they battle with the reality of large scale industrial development. The director deploys an inventive storytelling form where sound, space and body operate distinctly to frame the experience of a fragile existence. Each face portrayed in the film carries the signs of persistent trauma. This is an aesthetic tour de force that confidently and successfully reinvents the contours of Indian experimental cinema.	[45]
2012 (60th)	–	Shivaji Lotan Patil	Dhag	Marathi	The stark reality of a crematorium and its inhabitants who conduct the last rites form the core of this remarkable film that tugs at your heart. The director's creative craft pervades in all its ramifications throughout this brilliant film.	[46]
2013 (61st)	–	Hansal Mehta	Shahid	Hindi	A remarkably handled film that traces the true story of a slain human right activist and a lawyer Shahid Azmi in the backdrop of communal violence unleashed in Mumbai. The story of an impoverished Muslim struggling to come to terms with injustice, inequality and rise above his circumstances. It is an inspiring testament to the human spirit.	[47]
2014 (62nd)	–	Srijit Mukherji	Chotushkone	Bengali	For its brilliantly reflexive use of the cinematic idiom through a playful and innovative mise-en-scene that tautens to an unexpected and gripping climax.	[48]
2015 (63rd)		Sanjay Leela Bhansali	Bajirao Mastani	Hindi	For the masterful handling of all aspects of the medium of cinema to weave a tragic love story within a grand historic drama.	[49]

References

External links

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