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2nd National Film Awards

Indian ceremony celebrating cinema of 1954


Indian ceremony celebrating cinema of 1954

FieldValue
number2
awardNational Film Awards
awarded_forBest of Indian cinema in 1954
award_orgMinistry of Information and Broadcasting
presenting_orgRajendra Prasad
(President of India)
presented_date
siteVigyan Bhavan, New Delhi
websitedff.nic.in
best_featureMirza Ghalib
most_winsMirza Ghalib
Neelakuyil (2)
last1st
next3rd

(President of India) Neelakuyil (2)

The 2nd National Film Awards, then known as State Awards for Films, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1954. Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 21 December 1955 and awards were given by then President of India, Rajendra Prasad.

With the increasing number of films made in India, couple of new awards were introduced. Starting with 2nd National Film Awards, awards were divided into feature film and non-feature film awards. Feature films were, again, awarded at All India and Regional level. Awards were given to seven regional language films which are in Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu.

At All India level, Children's films were awarded with its own category where awards were categorised as Prime Minister's gold medal and Certificate of Merit. For all other categories, awards were given as President's gold medal and Certificate of Merit. Regional films were awarded with President's silver medal for Best Feature Film and Certificate of Merit. Non-feature film awards were awarded for documentaries made in the country.

Juries

Three different committees were formed based on the film making sectors in India, mainly based in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. Another committee for all India level was also formed which included some of the members from regional committee. For 2nd National Film Awards, central committee was headed by R. R. Diwakar.

  • Jury Members: Central
    • R. R. Diwakar (Chairperson)N. K. SiddhantaT. M. Narayanaswami PillaiM. D. BhatKamaladevi ChattopadhyaySatyavati MallikSyed NurullahS. S. VasanV. ShantaramR. SubbaraoArdhendu Mukerjee
  • Jury Regional: Bombay
    • M. D. Bhat (Chairperson)Kusumavati DeshpandeM. R. PalandeMoti ChandraBhagwati Charan VermaV. K. GokakVijay BhattKishore SahuJagdish Sethi
  • Jury Regional: Calcutta
    • N. K. Siddhanta (Chairperson)Sabita DeviKalidas NagO. C. GangulySudhir MukerjeeK. L. Chattarjee
  • Jury Regional: Madras
    • T. M. Narayanaswami Pillai (Chairperson)ManjubhashiniMu. VaradarajanR. SubbaraoB. Ramakrishna RajuAiyapanA. RamaiahK. Ramnath

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.

Feature films

Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For the 2nd National Film Awards, in this category, Mirza Ghalib, a biographical Hindi / Urdu film, based on the life of well-known poet Mirza Ghalib, along with a Malayalam film, Neelakuyil won the maximum number of awards (two), with former also winning the President's gold medal for the All India Best Feature Film. Following were the awards given:

All India Award

For 2nd National Film Awards, none of the films were awarded from Children's films category as no film was found to be suitable.

AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)ProducerDirector
President's gold medal for the All India Best Feature FilmMirza GhalibHindiMinerva MoviestoneSohrab Modi
All India Certificate of MeritNeelakuyilMalayalamChandrathara ProductionsP. Bhaskaran
Ramu Kariat
Biraj BahuHindiHiten Chaudhary ProductionsBimal Roy

Regional Award

The awards were given to the best films made in the regional languages of India. For 2nd National Film Awards, awards were given in seven regional language films which are in Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu.

Awardof FilmAwardee(s)ProducerDirector
*Feature Films in Bengali*
President's silver medal for Best Feature FilmChheley KaarCharan ChitraChitta Bose
Certificate of MeritJadu BhattaSunrise Film DistributorsNiren Lahiri
Annapurnar MandirChitra MandirNaresh Mitra
*Feature Films in Hindi*
President's silver medal for Best Feature FilmMirza GhalibMinerva MoviestoneSohrab Modi
Certificate of MeritJagritiFilmistan Ltd.Satyen Bose
*Feature Films in Kannada*
Certificate of MeritBedara KannappaGubbi Karnataka ProductionsH. L. N. Simha
*Feature Films in Malayalam*
President's silver medal for Best Feature FilmNeelakuyilChandrathara ProductionsP. Bhaskaran
Ramu Kariat
Certificate of MeritSnehaseemaAssociate PicturesDakshina Murthy
*Feature Films in Marathi*
President's silver medal for Best Feature FilmMahatma PhuleAtre PicturesPralhad Keshav Atre
*Feature Films in Tamil*
President's silver medal for Best Feature FilmMalaikkallanPakshiraja StudiosS. M. Sriramulu Naidu
Certificate of MeritAndha NaalAVM ProductionsS. Balachander
Edhir ParadhathuSaravanabhava and Unity PicturesC. H. Narayana Moorthy
*Feature Films in Telugu*
President's silver medal for Best Feature FilmPeddamanushuluVauhini ProductionsK. V. Reddy
Certificate of MeritThodu DongaluNational Art TheatresD. Yoganand
Vipra NarayanaBharani PicturesP. S. Ramakrishna Rao

Non-Feature films

Non-feature film awards were given for the documentaries made in the country. Following were the awards given:

Documentaries

AwardFilmLanguageAwardee(s)ProducerDirector
President's gold medal for the Best Documentary FilmSpirit of the LoomEnglishFilms DivisionV. R. Sarma
Certificate of MeritDarjeelingEnglishFilms DivisionK. L. Khandpur
Golden RiverEnglishFilms DivisionP. V. Pathy

Awards not given

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

  • Prime Minister's gold medal for the Best Children's Film
  • President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Kannada

References

References

  1. "2nd National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
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