The 51st National Film Awards, presented by

Directorate of Film Festivals The Directorate of Film Festivals in India was an organisation that initiated and presented the International Film Festival of India, the National Film Awards and the Indian Panorama. Although the Directorate helped appoint members of the jury ...

, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of

Indian Cinema The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, ...

released in the year 2003. Awards were announced by the committee headed by

Basu Chatterjee Basu Chatterjee ( bn, বাসু চ্যাটার্জ্জী; 10 January 1927 – 4 June 2020) was an Indian film director and screenwriter. Through the 1970s and 1980s, Chatterjee became associated with what came to be known as mi ...

Bhimsain Bhimsain (born Bhimsain Khurana; November 24, 1936 – April 17, 2018) was an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and animator. He is best known as the pioneer of Indian animation, along with his mentor Ram Mohan. He was the recipient o ...

and K. N. T. Sastry for the feature films, non-feature films and books written on Indian cinema, respectively, on 14 August 2004; whereas award ceremony took place on 3 February 2005 and awards were given away by then

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...

, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. With 51st National Film Awards, new category for Non-feature Film for Best Narration / Voice Over was introduced and awarded with 'Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus)'.

Awards

Awards were divided into feature films, non-feature films and books written on Indian cinema.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Feature films

Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For 51st National Film Awards, a

Marathi film Marathi cinema is an Indian film industry of Marathi-language motion pictures. It is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Based in old Mumbai, it is the oldest film industry of Indian cinema. The first Marathi film to be released in India was '' S ...

, ''

Shwaas ''Shwas'' (Marathi: श्वास, ''The Breath'') is a Marathi film, released in 2004. It was India's official entry to the 2004 Oscars and was ranked 6th in the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film category. Its storyline is based o ...

'' won the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film The National Award for Best Feature Film is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India. It is one of se ...

; whereas three Bengali films, '' Abar Aranye'' , ''

Bhalo Theko ''Bhalo Theko'' ( bn, ভাল থেকো; ''Take Care'') is a 2003 Indian Bengali movie based on Leena Gangopadhaya's story ''Janmadin'' released in 2003. Directed by Goutam Halder, it featured Soumitra Chatterjee, Joy Sengupta, Debsha ...

'' and '' Chokher Bali'', along with a Hindi film, '' Koi... Mil Gaya'' won the maximum number of awards (3). Following were the awards given in each category:

Juries

A committee headed by

was appointed to evaluate the feature films awards. Following were the jury members: * Jury Members **

(Chairperson)

Vijaya Nirmala Vijaya Nirmala (born Nidudavolu Nirmala; 20 February 1946 – 27 June 2019) was an Indian actress, director, and producer known for her works predominantly in Telugu cinema along with a few Malayalam and Tamil films. In a career spanning over si ...

N. Krishnakumar (Unni)

Sumalatha Sumalatha (born 27 August 1963) is an Indian actress, politician who is the current Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Mandya, Karnataka. She has acted in more than 220 films in Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi. She gained ...

K. B. Tilak Korlipara Balagangadhara Tilak (14 January 1926 – 23 September 2010), popularly known as K. B. Tilak, was an Indian independence movement, Indian independence activist, film director and producer. Early life He was born at Denduluru in West ...

Shailaja Bajpai Virendra Saini **Madhu Jain Rashmi DoraiswamyGayatri ChatterjeeRaj Datt

Makhonmani Mongsaba Makhonmani Mongsaba (born 1 March 1959) is an Indian author, actor, producer and director from Imphal, Manipur. He got his doctorate degree in Manipuri from Manipur University. In 2013, he won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for his book ...

Sher Choudhary Mohan Kondajji **Alaya Kumar Mohanty

Jyoti Sarup Jyoti Sarup (born 20 August 1954 in New Delhi) is a National Award winning Indian film/serial director and producer, most known for directing the television series, ''Buniyaad'', and films like ''Chorni'' (1982) and '' Bub''(2001) . Biograph ...

Nimmala Shankar Nimmala Shankar is an Indian film director, known for his works in Telugu cinema. He is known for directing blockbuster films like '' Jayam Manade Raa''. In 2011, he directed '' Jai Bolo Telangana'', which won five Nandi Awards and was screened ...

All India Award

Following were the awards given:

= Golden Lotus Award

= Official Name: Swarna Kamal All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.

= Silver Lotus Award

= Official Name: Rajat Kamal All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.

Regional Awards

The award is given to best film in the regional languages in India. Best Feature Film in Each of the Language Other Than Those Specified in the Schedule VIII of the Constitution

Non-Feature Films

Short Films made in any Indian language and certified by the Central Board of Film Certification as a documentary/newsreel/fiction are eligible for non-feature film section.

Juries

A committee headed by Bhim Sen was appointed to evaluate the non-feature films awards. Following were the jury members: * Jury Members ** Bhim Sen (Chairperson)Jose SebastianSatyabrata KalitaHaimanti BanerjeeRajiv KhandagleN. S. ShankarAnwar Jamal

Golden Lotus Award

Official Name: Swarna Kamal All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.

Silver Lotus Award

Official Name: Rajat Kamal All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)' and cash prize.

Best Writing on Cinema

The awards aim at encouraging study and appreciation of cinema as an art form and dissemination of information and critical appreciation of this art-form through publication of books, articles, reviews etc.

Juries

A committee headed by K. N. T. Sastry was appointed to evaluate the writing on Indian cinema. Following were the jury members: * Jury Members ** K. N. T. Sastry (Chairperson)Kodalli ShivaramAruna Anant Damle

Golden Lotus Award

Official Name: Swarna Kamal All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)' and cash prize.

Special Mention

All the award winners are awarded with Certificate of Merit.

Awards not given

Following were the awards not given as no film was found to be suitable for the award: * Best Feature Film in Manipuri * Best Feature Film in Punjabi * Best Biographical Film * Best Non-Feature Film on Family Welfare

References

External links

National Film Awards Archives

Official Page for Directorate of Film Festivals, India
{{National Film Awards National Film Awards (India) ceremonies 2004 Indian film awards 2005 Indian film awards