The country’s esteemed National Film Awards are hard to win. The awards were first presented in the year 1954. From 1973, the national awards are initiated by the country’s Directorate of Film Festivals. Each year the government appoints a national panel which selects the winning entry for the year. The awards are honored under two main categories, namely; Feature Film Awards and Non-Feature Film Awards. The winners for the feature film awards are selected by the jury which consists of 13 members. The winners for the non-feature film awards are selected by the jury which consists of five members. The President of the country hands out the awards to the winners for all the categories in the ceremony. The National Film Awards are handed out to the films that were produced in the previous year and are presented in the following categories:
Feature Film Awards: This category includes all the sub-categories of Golden Lotus Awards and Silver Lotus Awards. The winners are judged by the national jury which consists of 13 members.
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)
- Best Feature Film In Assamese
- Best Feature Film In Bengali
- Best Feature Film In Hindi
- Best Feature Film In Kannada
- Best Feature Film In Konkani
- Best Feature Film In Malayalam
- Best Feature Film In Manipuri
- Best Feature Film In Marathi
- Best Feature Film In Oriya
- Best Feature Film In Punjabi
- Best Feature Film In Tamil
- Best Feature Film In Telugu
- Best Feature Film In English
- Best Film On Family Welfare
- Best Film On Other Social Issues
- Best Film On Environment Conservation/Preservation Non-Feature Film Awards
Non-Feature Film Awards
- Best Non-Feature Film
- Best First Non-Feature Film
- Best Anthropological/Ethnographic Film
- Best Biographical Film
- Best Arts/Cultural Film
- Best Scientific Film
- Berst Promotional Film
- Best Film On Social Issues
- Best Educational/Motivational/Instructional Film
- Best Environment/Conservation/Preservation Film
- Best Exploration/Adventure Film
- Best Investigative Film
- Best Animated Film
- Best Short Fiction Film
- Best Non-Feature Film On Family Welfare
- Best Non-Feature Film Direction
- Best Non-Feature Film Cinematography
- Best Non-Feature Film Audiography
- Best Non-Feature Film Editing
- Best Non-Feature Film Music Direction
- Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Non-Feature Film)
- Best Book On Cinema
- Best Film Critic
- Nargis Dutt Award
- Indira Gandhi Award For Best First Film
- Dadasaheb Phalke Lifetime Achievement Award