The 56th

National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

, 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 in India to celebrate 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 2008. Three committees were instituted in order to judge the various entries for feature film, non-feature film and best writing on cinema sections, headed by the National award-winning director,

Shaji N. Karun Shaji Neelakantan Karun (born 1 January 1952) is an Indian film director and cinematographer. His debut film ''Piravi'' (1988) won the Caméra d'Or – Mention d'honneur at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. He was the premiere chairman of the Kerala ...

, for feature films and Aruna Raje Patil for non-feature films and

Sunil Gangopadhyay Sunil Gangopadhyay or Sunil Ganguly (7 September 1934 – 23 October 2012) was an Indian poet, historian and novelist in the Bengali language based in the city of Kolkata. He is a former Sheriff of Calcutta. Gangopadhyay obtained his m ...

for best writing on cinema. Each chairperson announced the award on 23 January 2010 for their respective sections and award ceremony took place at

Vigyan Bhavan Vigyan Bhawan ("science building") is a premier conference centre of the Government of India in New Delhi. Built in 1956, over the years it has been the venue of conferences of national and international stature, seminars and award ceremonies ...

, New Delhi with

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 Murm ...

Pratibha Patil Prathibha DeviSingh Patil (born 19 December 1934) is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the 12th president of India spanning from 2007 to 2012. She is the first woman to become the president of India. A member of the Indian National ...

giving away the awards on 20 March 2010.

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 56th National Film Awards, a Bengali film, ''

Antaheen ''Antaheen'' ( bn, অন্তহীন, sometimes dubbed in English as ''The Endless Wait'') is a 2009 Bengali film directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury. The film stars Radhika Apte, Rahul Bose, Mita Vashisth, Aparna Sen, Kalyan Ray and Sharmi ...

'' 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 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 ...

, ''

Jogwa ''Jogwa - The Awakening'' is a 2009 Marathi-language film directed by Rajiv Patil and produced under iDream Productions & Screenplay by Sanjay Krishnaji Patil. It stars Upendra Limaye and Mukta Barve while Priya Berde, Vinay Apte, Sharvani ...

'' won the maximum number of awards (5). The following awards were given in each category:

Juries

A committee headed by

was appointed to evaluate the feature films awards. The jury members were: *

(

Chairperson The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

)Roshan TanejaH. M. Ramachandra

Nagma Nagma Arvind Morarji (born Nandita Arvind Morarji on 25 December 1974) is an Indian politician and former actress. She was a popular lead actress in the 1990s. She made her cinematic debut in the film '' Baaghi'' opposite Salman Khan in 1990. ...

Satyabrata Kalita Neelakanta Dilip GhoshSwapan MullickSudesh SyalS. K. Srivastava ArchanaB. Shashi KumarSubhash SehgalSantosh Desai

Sreelekha Mukherji Sreelekha Mukherji is a National Film Award-winning Indian actress, with predominant works in Bengali fims. She is known for her lead role in the 1989 film Parshuramer Kuthar for which she won the National Film Award for Best Actress. & Ben ...

All India Award

The following awards were 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 Languages 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 Aruna Raje Patil was appointed to evaluate the non-feature films awards. The jury members were: * Aruna Raje Patil (

)Krishnendu BoseAnirban DuttaSandeep MarwahReena Mohan R. V. RamaniSarfaraz Siddiqui

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

was appointed to evaluate the writing on Indian cinema. The jury members were: *

(

)Sudhish PachauriZia-us Salam

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

The following awards were not given as no film was found to be suitable: * Best Feature Film in Manipuri * Best Environment / Conservation / Preservation Film * Best Feature Film in Oriya * Best Feature Film in Punjabi

References

External links

National Film Awards Archives

Official Page for Directorate of Film Festivals, India
{{National Film Awards National Film Awards (India) ceremonies 2010 Indian film awards