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National Film Award for Best Music Direction

State-instituted annual film awards in India

Summary

State-instituted annual film awards in India

Field	Value
name	National Film Award for Best Music Direction
alt	G. V. Prakash Kumar
caption	One of the 2023 recipients: G. V. Prakash Kumar
subheader	National award for contributions to Indian Cinema
awarded_for	Best Music Direction and background score for a feature film of the year
sponsor	National Film Development Corporation of India
firstawarded	1967 (Songs)
1994 (Background music)
lastawarded	2023
most_wins	A. R. Rahman (7)
reward
holder_label	Most recent winner
holder	G. V. Prakash Kumar (Songs)
Harshavardhan Rameshwar (Background music)
award1_type	Total awarded
award1_winner	54
award2_type	First winner
award2_winner	K. V. Mahadevan

1994 (Background music) Harshavardhan Rameshwar (Background music)

The National Film Award for Best Music Direction (the Silver Lotus Award) is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards by the National Film Development Corporation of India to a musician who has composed the best score for films produced within the Indian film industry. The award was first introduced at the 15th National Film Awards in 1967. At the 42nd National Film Awards, an award for "Best Background Score" was instituted. It was however discontinued after that, and it was not until 2009 that the category was re-introduced. Later, during the 70th National Film Awards both the categories — Best Background Score and Best Background Music were clubbed together and named as "Best Background Music". A total of 51 awards—including award for Best Background music—to 40 different composers.

Although the Indian film industry produces films in around 20 languages and dialects, the recipients of the award include those who have worked in seven major languages: Hindi (19 awards), Tamil (12 awards), Telugu (10 awards), Malayalam (9 awards), Bengali (7 awards), Kannada (5 awards) and Marathi (2 awards).

The first recipient of the award was K. V. Mahadevan who was honoured for his composition in the Tamil film Kandan Karunai (1967). A. R. Rahman is the most frequent winner having won 7 awards. A. R. Rahman is also the only composer to have received a national award in his debut movie itself. Ilaiyaraaja has won it 5 times. Jaidev and Vishal Bhardwaj have won it three times each. Four musicians—B. V. Karanth, K.V. Mahadevan, Satyajit Ray, Johnson and M. M. Keeravani have won the award twice each. Ilaiyaraaja is the only composer to have won the award for achieving in three different languages — Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam. While A. R. Rahman won the award for performing in two different languages — Tamil and Hindi (including one for his debut film) Roja (1992).

Johnson won the inaugural "Best Background Score" award—for Sukrutham—in 1994. When the award was reinstated in 2009, Ilaiyaraaja won it for the Malayalam film Pazhassi Raja.

Winners

	Indicates winner for Best Background music

List of award recipients, showing the year (award ceremony), film(s) and language(s)	Year	Recipient(s)	Film(s)	Language	Refs.	K. V. Mahadevan	Kalyanji Anandji	S. Mohinder	Madan Mohan	Jaidev	Sachin Dev Burman	Satyajit Ray	Ananda Shankar	Bhupen Hazarika	B. V. Karanth	B. V. Karanth	Jaidev	K. V. Mahadevan	Satyajit Ray	Khayyam	Ramesh Naidu	Ilaiyaraaja	Jaidev	Ilaiyaraaja	M. Balamuralikrishna	Vanraj Bhatia	Ilaiyaraaja	Sher Choudhury	Hridaynath Mangeshkar	Rajat Dholakia	A. R. Rahman	Johnson	Ravi
(As Bombay Ravi)	Johnson	Hamsalekha	A. R. Rahman	M. M. Keeravani	Vishal Bhardwaj	Ismail Darbar	Anu Malik	A. R. Rahman	A. R. Rahman	Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy	Vidyasagar	Lalgudi Jayaraman	Ashok Patki	Ouseppachan	Ajay–Atul	Amit Trivedi	Ilaiyaraaja	Vishal Bhardwaj	Isaac Thomas Kottukapally	Neel Dutt	Mayookh Bhaumik	Shailendra Barve	Bijibal	Kabir Suman	Shantanu Moitra	Vishal Bhardwaj	Gopi Sundar	M. Jayachandran	Ilaiyaraaja	Bapu Padmanabha	A. R. Rahman	Sanjay Leela Bhansali	Shashwat Sachdev	D. Imman	Prabuddha Banerjee	Thaman S	G. V. Prakash Kumar	Devi Sri Prasad	M. M. Keeravani	Pritam	A. R. Rahman	G. V. Prakash Kumar	Harshavardhan Rameshwar
[1967
(15th)](15th-national-film-awards)	Kandan Karunai	Tamil
[1968
(16th)](16th-national-film-awards)	Saraswatichandra	Hindi
[1969
(17th)](17th-national-film-awards)	Nanak Nam Jahaz Hai	Punjabi
[1970
(18th)](18th-national-film-awards)	Dastak	Hindi
[1971
(19th)](19th-national-film-awards)	Reshma Aur Shera	Hindi
[1972
(20th)](20th-national-film-awards)	Zindagi Zindagi	Hindi
[1973
(21st)](21st-national-film-awards)	Ashani Sanket	Bengali
[1974
(22nd)](22nd-national-film-awards)	Chorus	Bengali
[1975
(23rd)](23rd-national-film-awards)	Chameli Memsaab	Assamese
[1976
(24th)](24th-national-film-awards)	Rishya Shringa	Kannada
[1977
(25th)](25th-national-film-awards)	Ghatashraddha	Kannada
[1978
(26th)](26th-national-film-awards)	Gaman	Hindi
[1979
(27th)](27th-national-film-awards)	Sankarabharanam	Telugu
[1980
(28th)](28th-national-film-awards)	Hirak Rajar Deshe	Bengali
[1981
(29th)](29th-national-film-awards)	Umrao Jaan	Hindi
[1982
(30th)](30th-national-film-awards)	Meghasandesam	Telugu
[1983
(31st)](31st-national-film-awards)	Saagara Sangamam	Telugu
[1984
(32nd)](32nd-national-film-awards)	Ankahee	Hindi
[1985
(33rd)](33rd-national-film-awards)	Sindhu Bhairavi	Tamil
[1986
(34th)](34th-national-film-awards)	Madhvacharya	Kannada
[1987
(35th)](35th-national-film-awards)	Tamas	Hindi
[1988
(36th)](36th-national-film-awards)	Rudra Veena	Telugu
[1989
(37th)](37th-national-film-awards)	Wosobipo	Karbi
[1990
(38th)](38th-national-film-awards)	Lekin...	Hindi
[1991
(39th)](39th-national-film-awards)	Dharavi	Hindi
[1992
(40th)](40th-national-film-awards)	Roja	Tamil
[1993
(41st)](41st-national-film-awards)	Ponthan Mada	Malayalam
[1994
(42nd)](42nd-national-film-awards)	Sukrutham
Parinayam	Malayalam
Sukrutham	Malayalam
[1995
(43rd)](43rd-national-film-awards)	Sangeetha Sagara Ganayogi Panchakshara Gavai	Kannada
[1996
(44th)](44th-national-film-awards)	Minsara Kanavu	Tamil
[1997
(45th)](45th-national-film-awards)	Annamayya	Telugu
[1998
(46th)](46th-national-film-awards)	Godmother	Hindi
[1999
(47th)](47th-national-film-awards)	Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam	Hindi
[2000
(48th)](48th-national-film-awards)	Refugee	Hindi
[2001
(49th)](49th-national-film-awards)	Lagaan	Hindi
[2002
(50th)](50th-national-film-awards)	Kannathil Muthamittal	Tamil
[2003
(51st)](51st-national-film-awards)	Kal Ho Naa Ho	Hindi
[2004
(52nd)](52nd-national-film-awards)	Swarabhishekam	Telugu
[2005
(53rd)](53rd-national-film-awards)	Sringaram	Tamil
[2006
(54th)](54th-national-film-awards)	Antarnad	Konkani
[2007
(55th)](55th-national-film-awards)	Ore Kadal	Malayalam
[2008
(56th)](56th-national-film-awards)	Jogwa	Marathi
[2009
(57th)](57th-national-film-awards)	Dev.D	Hindi
Pazhassi Raja	Malayalam
[2010
(58th)](58th-national-film-awards)	Ishqiya	Hindi
Adaminte Makan Abu	Malayalam
[2011
(59th)](59th-national-film-awards)	Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona	Bengali
Laptop	Bengali
[2012
(60th)](60th-national-film-awards)	Samhita	Marathi
Kaliyachan	Malayalam
[2013
(61st)](61st-national-film-awards)	Jaatishwar	Bengali
Naa Bangaaru Talli	Telugu
[2014
(62nd)](62nd-national-film-awards)	Haider	Hindi
1983	Malayalam
[2015
(63rd)](63rd-national-film-awards)	Ennu Ninte Moideen	Malayalam
Tharai Thappattai	Tamil
[2016
(64th)](64th-national-film-awards)	Allama	Kannada
[2017
(65th)](65th-national-film-awards)	Kaatru Veliyidai	Tamil
Mom	Hindi
[2018
(66th)](66th-national-film-awards)	Padmaavat	Hindi
Uri: The Surgical Strike	Hindi
[2019
(67th)](67th-national-film-awards)	Viswasam	Tamil
Jyeshthoputro	Bengali
[2020
(68th)](68th-national-film-awards)	Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo	Telugu
Soorarai Pottru	Tamil
[2021
(69th)](69th-national-film-awards)	Pushpa: The Rise	Telugu
RRR	Telugu
[2022
(70th)](70th-national-film-awards)	Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva	Hindi
Ponniyin Selvan: I	Tamil
[2023
(71st)](71st-national-film-awards)	Vaathi	Tamil
Animal	Hindi

Notes

References

"About National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
Under Secretary to the Government of India. (14 December 2023). "Report on Rationalization of Awards Conferred by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting {{!}} Ministry of Information and Broadcasting {{!}} Government of India". [[Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India).
Narayanan, Arjun. (13 December 2009). "Much more than the name of a raga". [[The New Indian Express]].
Parvez, Amjad. (21 December 2010). "Jaidev and his unforgettable music". [[Daily Times (Pakistan)]].
Nagarajan, Saraswathy. (16 June 2006). "Of rhythm and soul". [[The Hindu]].
Mathai, Kamini. (2009). "A.R. Rahman: The Musical Storm". Penguin Books India.
Moviebuzz. (15 July 2011). "Everybody wants a piece of ARR!".
Karthikeyan, D.. (15 July 2011). "Three gems who changed the course of cinema". The Hindu.
"15th National Film Awards". International Film Festival of India.
"16th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
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"21st National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
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"23rd National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
Murali, Janaki. (6 September 2002). "Trust plans all round tribute to B.V. Karanth". [[The Hindu]].
"25th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"26th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
Narayanan, Arjun. (13 December 2009). "Much more than the name of a raga".
"28th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
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"30th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
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"36th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"37th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"38th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"39th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"40th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"41st National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"42nd National Film Awards (PDF)". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"43rd National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"44th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"45th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"46th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"47th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"48th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"49th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"50th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"51st National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"52nd National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"53rd National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"54th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"55th National Film Awards (PDF)". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"56th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"57th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"58th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"59th National Film Awards for the Year 2011 Announced". Press Information Bureau (PIB), India.
"60th National Film Awards Announced". Press Information Bureau (PIB), India.
"61st National Film Awards Announced". Press Information Bureau (PIB), India.
(24 March 2015). "62nd National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
(28 March 2016). "63rd National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"64th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals.
"65th National Film Awards".
(10 August 2019). "National Film Awards 2019: Full winners list". The Indian Express.
Bureau, The Hindu. (2022-07-22). "68th National Film Awards {{!}} Updates". The Hindu.
(24 August 2023). "69th National Film Awards 2023 complete winners list: Rocketry, Alia Bhatt, Kriti Sanon, Allu Arjun, RRR, Gangubai Kathiawadi win big".
(16 August 2024). "70th National Film Awards: Rishab Shetty wins Best Actor for 'Kantara,' 'Aattam' bags Best Feature Film". The Hindu.
(1 August 2025). "71st National Film Awards complete winners list: Shah Rukh Khan, Vikrant Massey share 'Best Actor', Rani Mukerji wins best actress, 'Katthal' wins best Hindi film". The Times of India.

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