Mohanlal's Inspiring Speech Brings The Curtain Down On 71st National Film Awards Felicitation Ceremony | Highlights

President Droupadi Murmu concluded the National Film Awards ceremony with an inspiring speech. She congratulated the winners and shared an inspirational message of promoting greater social good through cinema and art. 

Following the honour, a small video highlighting Mohanlal's contribution was played. The actor, in a moving speech, expressed gratitude for the win. He said, “Honoured to be the youngest Malayali to win the award and only the second from the industry." The ‘complete actor’ dedicated the win to the Malayalam cinema. 

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The President of India, Droupadi Murmu, presented the Dadasaheb Phalke honour to Malayalam actor Mohanlal. The ‘complete actor’ received a standing ovation as he was honoured with the lifetime achievement. 

Vikrant Massey's 12th Fail was honoured as the Best Feature Film at the National Film Awards 2025. Vidhu Vinod Chopra received the award. 

Director Karan Johar was honoured for the movie Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. This is his third consecutive honour. 

Director of Vicky Kaushal starrer Sam Bahadur, Meghna Gulzar, has been honoured in the Best Film Promoting National/Social Values category. 

Shah Rukh Khan has won his first National Film Award for the movie Jawan. 
 

Vikrant Massey won the honour for 12th Fail. 

Rani Mukerji received the National Film Award for Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway. This is her first win. 

Janki Bodiwala was honoured for playing a supporting role in the Gujarati movie Vash at the National Film Awards 2025. 





 

Shilpa Rao was honoured for Best Playback Singing for the song Chaleya from Jawan. 

Sachin, Divya and Nidhhi were honoured at the National Film Awards 2025 for Best Costume Design in Sam Bahadur. 

Vaibhavi Merchant was honoured with the National Award for Best Choreography for the song Dindhora Baje Re in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.

Nandu-Prudhvi was honoured for the Telugu film, HanuMan.

Director and producer of the film Vash were honoured in the Best Gujarati Film category. 

Sanya Malhotra starrer Kathal was honoured for the Best Hindi Film at the National Awards 2025 ceremony. Director Yashowardhan Mishra received the award. 

The team of Kandeelu arrived to receive the honour for Best Kannada Film at the 71st National Award ceremony. 

Ullozhukku Director Christo Tomy and producer Honey Trehan, on behalf of RSVP, were honoured in the Best Malayalam movie category. 

The producers and director of the Tamil film Parking were honoured in the Best Film in the language category. 

The best movie awardees in the language category are: 

Best Tai Phake Film: Pai Tang… Step of Hope

Best Garo Film: Rimdottianga

Best Telugu Film: Bhagavanth Kesari

Best Tamil Film: Parking

Best Punjabi Film: Godday Godday Chaa

Best Odia Film: Pushkara

Best Marathi Film: Shyamchi Aai

Best Malayalam Film: Ullozhukku

Best Kannada Film: Kandeelu

Best Hindi Film: Kathal

Best Gujarati Film: Vash

Best Bengali Film: Deep Fridge

Best Assamese Film: Rongatapu 1982 

MR Rajakrishnan received a special mention in the Best Feature Film category for re-recording the movie Animal, directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga and featuring Ranbir Kapoor. 
 

The Non-feature film category awards have concluded. Awardees of the Best Feature Films categories will be awarded next. 
 

The National Film Awards ceremony began by honouring the winners in the Best non-feature films and Best Writing on Indian cinema categories. The winners in the category are:

Non-Feature Films

Special Mentions:

Nekal – Chronicle of the Paddy Man

The Sea and the Seven Villages

Award Winners:

Best Script: Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know

Best Voiceover: Hari Krishnan S (The Sacred Jack – Exploring The Tree of Wishes)

Best Music Direction: Pranil Desai (The First Film)

Best Editing: Niladri Roy (Moving Focus)

Best Sound Design: Shubarun Sengupta (Dhundhgiri Ke Phool)

Best Cinematography: Meenakshi Soman, Saravanamaruthu (Little Wings)

Best Direction: Piyush Thakur (The First Film)

Best Short Film: Giddh – The Scavenger

Best Film Promoting Social and Environmental Values: The Silent Epidemic

Best Documentary: God Vulture and Human

Best Art/Culture Film: Timeless Tamil Nadu

Best Biographical/Historical Reconstruction: Mo Bou Mo Gaan, Lentina Ao

Best Debut Film: The Spirit Dreams of Cheraw

Best Non-Fiction Film: Flowering Man

 

Actress Rani Mukerji, who is marking a pivotal day in her life, attended the National Film Awards ceremony, donning a special necklace that featured the name of her daughter, Adira. The actress is at the ceremony to be honoured for her portrayal as a resilient mother in Mrs Chatterjee Vs. Norway. 
 

President Droupadi Murmu arrived at Vigyan Bhavan for the National Film Awards 2025. The August gathering commenced the event with the National Anthem. 

Rani Mukerji donned a brown coloured saree for receiving her maiden National award win. 
 

Vikrant Massey is also winning his maiden National Film Award, alongside Shah Rukh Khan, in the Best Actor category for the movie 12th Fail. 

 

Janki Bodiwala has won the recognition for best supporting actor for the Gujarati movie, Vash. 

 The Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) winners get ₹3 lakh, while Rajat Kamal winners get ₹2 lakh.

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332 entries in Feature Films, 115 in Non-Feature, 27 Books and 16 Critics entries were submitted for the National Awards 2023 recognition. 

Dadasaheb Award recipient Mohanlal was spotted at the National Awards 2025 ceremony in an all white outfit.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the director of 12th Fail, arrived at Vigyaan Bhawan to receive the honour for the movie, which will receive the award for Best Feature Film. 

Meghna Gulzar's directorial Sam Bahadur won the honour for Best Film Promoting National/Social Values. The ace filmmaker arrived at the ceremony to receive the honour. 

 

Filmmaker Ekta Kapoor attended the ceremony for the honour of Best Hindi Film, Kathal, which features Sanya Malhotra. 

 

Karan Johar's partner Apoorva Mehta spoke about the song Dhindora Baje from Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, which has won the National Award for Best Choreography. He shared that the song, choreographed by Vaibhavi Merchant, was an ode to Sanjay Leela Bhansali. 
 

Director Karan Johar arrived at the National Awards ceremony on September 23. The filmmaker is being honoured for the third time in a row since 2021, after Shershaah and Brahmastra. 

The team of Best Non-Fiction Film, Flowering Man, arrived at the National Award ceremony. 

The red carpet of the National Awards Ceremony 2025 will commence at 3 PM. It can be streamed live on the YouTube channel of DD News. 
 

Read More: 71st National Film Awards: Where To Watch Prestigious Ceremony Live 

Director Karan Johar jetted off from Mumbai to attend the National Awards Ceremony in New Delhi on September 23. He will be receiving for directing Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, which will be awarded in the Best Popular Film Offering Wholesome Entertainment category. 

The Vigyan Bhawan at Delhi decked up for the National Awards ceremony scheduled to be held later today. 
 

Actor Mohanlal, on the eve of receiving Indian cinema’s highest honour -- the Dadasaheb Phalke Award -- said the recognition was not only a catalyst for his artistic journey but also a responsibility. “Cinema is magic. The recipe for success -- no one knows. To become successful, one has to be lucky, and I consider myself lucky. The blessings of my seniors are the reason for this,” said Mohanlal, to a leading Malayalam channel before leaving for the award ceremony in New Delhi. He dedicated the honour to the Malayalam film industry, his family, and the audience that has stood by him.

The National Film Awards are divided into three categories - Feature Films, Non-Feature Films, and Best Writing on Cinema.

The feature and non-feature film awards encourage films of artistic, technical, and social excellence.

The Best Writing awards are conferred to books, articles, reviews, and research that spread awareness about films and their cultural significance. 

Apart from these, the ceremony will also see the conferring of the Dadasaheb Phalke award, which is a lifetime achievement award for contributions made to cinema. 

Actor Mohanlal will be honoured with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award at the 71st National Film Awards. Addressing mediapersons on Sunday, the actor, often called one of the finest stars of Indian cinema, shared that he felt this award was not just his own but belonged to Malayalam cinema as a whole. He also recalled the moment when he was informed about receiving the honour, which he described as feeling like "a wild dream." 
 

Read More: https://www.republicworld.com/entertainment/celebrities/malayalam-superstar-mohanlal-on-winning-prestigious-dadasaheb-phalke-award-it-felt-like-a-wild-dream 

Actress Rani Mukerji was spotted at Mumbai's Kalina airport on the early morning of September 23. She will be honoured with her maiden award for Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway. 
 

Read More: https://www.republicworld.com/entertainment/bollywood/71st-national-awards-rani-mukerji-jets-off-to-delhi-to-receive-her-first-best-actress-trophy-watch 

Cinema lovers can watch the entire National Film Awards ceremony live on YouTube through the official DD News Channel. The broadcast will begin at 3 pm, featuring the winners walking the red carpet before receiving their honours on stage. 

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71st National Film Awards Full Winners List: 

Best Actor
Shah Rukh Khan (Jawaan) and Vikrant Massey (12th Fail)

Best Actress
Rani Mukerji (Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway)

Best Hindi Film
Kathal

Read More: https://www.republicworld.com/entertainment/awards-events/71st-national-film-awards-where-to-watch-prestigious-ceremony-live-today-vikrant-massey-mohanlal-rani-mukherji-vigyan-bhawan-droupadi-murmu 

Best Feature Film
12th Fail

Best Kannada Film
The Ray of Hope

Best Female Playback Singer
Shilpa Rao (for Jawan Ke Chaleya)

Best Male Playback Singer
PVNS Rohit (Baby, Telugu)

Best Cinematography
The Kerala Story

Best Choreography
Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani (Dhindora Baje Re)

Best Makeup and Costume Designer
Sam Bahadur

Special Mention
Animal (Re-Recording Mixer) MR Rajakrishnan

Best Sound Design
Animal (Hindi)

Best Director
The Kerala Story (Sudipto Sen)

Best Popular Film
Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani

Best Telugu Film
Bhagavanth Kesari

Best Gujarati Film
Vaash

Best Tamil Feature Film
Parking