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21st National Film Awards

Indian ceremony celebrating cinema of 1973


Indian ceremony celebrating cinema of 1973

FieldValue
number21
awardNational Film Awards
image21st NFA.png
caption21st National Film Awards
awarded_forBest of Indian cinema in 1973
award_orgDirectorate of Film Festivals
presenting_orgIndira Gandhi
(Prime Minister of India)
announced_date
presented_date
siteVigyan Bhavan, New Delhi
websitedff.nic.in
lifetime_achievementRuby Myers
best_featureNirmalyam
most_winsAshani Sanket
Kaadu (3)
last20th
next22nd

(Prime Minister of India) Kaadu (3)

The 21st National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1973. Ceremony took place in October 1974 and awards were given by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Juries

Prior to 21st National Film Awards, there used to be regional committees at Bombay (Mumbai), Calcutta (Kolkata) and Madras (Chennai), the recommendations of which were then considered by central committee. To avoid this long-winded process, regional committees were discarded.

Two different committees were formed for feature films and short films, headed by Romesh Thapar and S. K. Kooka respectively.

  • Jury Members: Feature Films
    • Romesh Thapar (Chairperson)Usha BhagatTeji BachchanIsmat ChughtaiM. Yunus DehlviAshis Burman
    • Firoze RangoonwallaDina PathakB. V. KaranthT. S. PillaiT. K. MahadevanJ. Swaminathan
    • Dileep PadgaonkarSubodh MukherjeeU. Visweswar RawAsim PaulTarun MajumdarAnanta Patnaik
    • Illindula Saraswathi DeviM. BhaktavatsalaSai ParanjpyeK. R. K. MenonO. V. Vijayan
  • Jury Members: Short Films
    • S. K. Kooka (Chairperson)Balwant GargiNalni SoniKomal Kothari

Awards

Awards were divided into feature films and non-feature films.

President's gold medal for the All India Best Feature Film is now better known as National Film Award for Best Feature Film, whereas President's gold medal for the Best Documentary Film is analogous to today's National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film. For children's films, Prime Minister's gold medal is now given as National Film Award for Best Children's Film. At the regional level, President's silver medal for Best Feature Film is now given as National Film Award for Best Feature Film in a particular language. Certificate of Merit in all the categories is discontinued over the years.

Lifetime Achievement Award

AwardImageAwardee(s)Awarded AsCash Prize
Dadasaheb Phalke Award[[File:Ruby Myers 2013 stamp of India.jpg75px]]Ruby Myers (Sulochana)Actress20,000, a gold medal and a shawl

Feature films

Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For 21st National Film Awards, a Malayalam film Nirmalyam won the President's gold medal for the All India Best Feature Film; whereas a Bengali film Ashani Sanket and a Kannada film Kaadu won the maximum number of awards (three). Following were the awards given in each category:

All India Award

Following were the awards given:

AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash Prize
Best Feature FilmNirmalyamMalayalamProducer: M. T. Vasudevan NairGold Medal and 40,000
Director: M. T. Vasudevan Nair
Second Best Feature FilmKaaduKannadaProducer: K. N. NarayanSilver Medal and 15,000
Producer: G. N. Lakshmipathy
Director: Girish KarnadSilver Medal and 10,000
Best Feature Film on National IntegrationGarm HavaHindiProducer: M/s Unit 3 MMA Medal and 30,000
Director: M. S. SathyuA Medal and 20,000
Best Cinematography (Black and White)27 DownHindiApurba Kishore BirSilver Medal and 5,000
Best Cinematography (Color)Ashani SanketBengaliSoumendu RoySilver Medal and 5,000
Best DirectionDuvidhaHindiMani KaulSilver Medal and 20,000
Best Actor (Bharat Award)NirmalyamMalayalamP. J. AntonyA figurine
Best Actress (Urvashi Award)KaaduKannadaNandini BhaktavatsalaA figurine
Best Child ArtistKaaduKannadaG. S. NatarajSilver Medal
Best Male Playback SingerGayathriMalayalamK. J. YesudasSilver Medal
Best Music DirectionAshani SanketBengaliSatyajit RaySilver Medal and 10,000
Best ScreenplayPadatikBengaliMrinal SenSilver Medal and 10,000
Ashish Burman
Best StoryGarm HavaHindiIsmat ChughtaiSilver Medal and 10,000
Kaifi Azmi

Regional Award

The awards were given to the best films made in the regional languages of India. For feature films in English, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Meitei, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi and Telugu language, President's silver medal for Best Feature Film was not given. The producer of the film was awarded with a silver medal and 10,000, the director of the film was awarded with a silver medal and 5,000, and leading actors were awarded with a souvenir.

AwardFilmAwardee(s)ProducerDirectorActorActress
Best Feature Film in AssameseMamtaNalin DowerahEva AchowRudra BaruahNalin Dowerah
Prafulla Dutta
Shiba Thakur
Best Feature Film in BengaliAshani SanketSarbeni BhattacharyaSatyajit RaySoumitra ChatterjeeBobita
Best Feature Film in Hindi27 DownAwatar Krishna KaulAwatar Krishna KaulM. K. RainaRaakhee
Best Feature Film in KannadaAbachurina Post OfficePatre C. VinayakN. LakshminarayanB. N. NarayanGirija
Best Feature Film in MalayalamGayathriA. R. Shreedharan ElayidomP. N. MenonV. RaghavanJayabharathi
P. B. Ashram
Best Feature Film in TamilDikkatra ParvathiM/s NavatarangSingeetam Srinivasa RaoSrikanthLakshmi

Non-Feature films

Following were the awards given:

Short films and Documentaries

AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)Cash Prize
Best Information Film (Documentary)The Flame Burns BrightEnglishProducer: Ashish MukherjeeSilver Medal and 5,000
Director: Ashish Mukherjee
Best Educational / Instructional FilmSath Kutch Na JayegaHindiProducer: Dhiru MistrySilver Medal and 5,000
Director: Sureshwar Singh
Best Film on Social DocumentationLand of KrishnaEnglishProducer: G. L. BhardwajSilver Medal and 5,000
Director: G. L. Bhardwaj
Best Promotional Film (Commercial)Delhi the City BeautifulEnglishProducer: Jagdish BanerjeeSilver Medal
Director: Jagdish Banerjee
Best Promotional Film (Non-Commercial)Fibre The Fabric of LifeEnglishProducer: Khadi and Village Industries CommissionSilver Medal
Director: G. L. Bhardwaj
Best Experimental FilmHomi Bhabha - A Scientist in ActionEnglishProducer: Jagat MurariSilver Medal and 5,000
Director: K. VishwanathSilver Medal and 4,000

Awards not given

Following were the awards not given as no film was found to be suitable for the award:

  • Best Film on Family Welfare
  • Best Children's Film
  • Lyric Writer of the Best Film Song on National Integration
  • Best Female Playback Singer
  • Best Animation Film
  • President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in English
  • President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Manipuri
  • President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Marathi
  • President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Oriya
  • President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Punjabi
  • President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Telugu

Explanatory notes

References

References

  1. "21st National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
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