National Awards are considered as the esteemed awards which are bestowed upon the most talented personalities. The EBNW Story explores the rare facts associated with these awards…
Shabana Azmi holds the record of winning the most National Awards
Actress Shabana Azmi holds the record of winning the most National Awards so far. She has received the Best Actress National Award 5 times for the films like Ankur, Arth, Kandhar, Paar and Godmother.
Smita Patil created history by winning the Best Actress National Award at the youngest age
Smita Patil received the Best Actress National Award for the 1977 film Bhumika. At that time, she was just 25 years old. In such a situation, she still holds the record of winning the Best Actress Award at the youngest age.
Controversy over the film Black winning the National Award
In the 53rd National Film Awards, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film Black was given the National Award for Best Feature Film (Hindi). According to the rules of the National Award, no award can be given to any film which is an adaptation of another film. In such a situation, Deb Banerjee, one of the jury members, had alleged that the award was given by favouring this film. The film Black is an adaptation of the Hollywood film The Miracle Work, so it does not pass the award criteria.
They also filed a petition against the award being given to the film. However, no action was taken. Eventually, the film Black won 3 National Awards, including Best Feature Film (Hindi), Best Actor (Amitabh Bachchan) and Best Costume Design (Sabyasachi Mukherjee).
Kirron Kher’s National Award remained controversial
Kirron Kher was given the National Award for Best Actress for the Bengali film Bariwali. In the form filled during the nomination of this film, it was said that Kiran Kher had dubbed her own voice, however, dubbing artist and actress Rita Koirala alleged that she had done Bengali dubbing for Kirron Kher in the film, which was not mentioned in the nomination form.
68 winners refused to attend the 65th National Award Ceremony
The 65th National Award Ceremony was in controversy due to 68 winners not attending the ceremony. Actually, it was clearly written in the invitation card given to the winners that they would be given the award by President Ramnath Kovind, but when the rehearsal of the ceremony started, it was told that only 11 out of 107 people would receive the award from the President. The then Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani would give the award to the other winners. Angered by this, 68 winners refused to attend the ceremony.
History of National Award
The National Award was started in the year 1954 by the Government of India to honor talents related to the film world at the national level. Its foundation was laid to promote Indian culture and art. The first ceremony of the National Award was held on 10 October 1954, in which the Marathi film Shyamchi Aai was awarded in the Best Feature Film category.
Dadasaheb Phalke Award started in 1969
In the year 1969, a new category Dadasaheb Phalke Award was included in the National Award in honor of Dadasaheb Phalke, the father of Hindi cinema. In the year 1969, Devika Rani was the first film personality to win the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Since then, about 54 people have received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. It is called the most prestigious honor of the film world. Mithun Chakraborty received this award in 2024.