71st National Film Awards: Shah Rukh Khan, Vikrant Massey win first National Awards

The winners of the 71st National Film Awards were announced in New Delhi on Friday with ‘12th Fail’ emerging as the ‘Best Feature Film’ and Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji and Vikrant Massey receiving acting honours.

The film jury was chaired by filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker, who announced the awards for films certified by CBFC between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023. ‘The Kerala Story’, ‘Hanuman’, ‘Animal’ and ‘Parking’ were among the winners as well.

The National Award for ‘Best Actor in a Leading Role’ was shared by Shah Rukh Khan for ‘Jawan’ and Vikrant Massey for ‘12th Fail’. Meanwhile, Rani Mukerji received the National Award for ‘Best Actress in a Leading Role’ for her performance in ‘Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway’.

“I want to thank the Honourable Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the NFDC and all the esteemed jury members of the 71st National Film Awards for considering my performance worthy of this recognition. I also want to thank Vidhu Vinod Chopra ji for giving me this opportunity,” said Vikrant.

He added, “Today, if I may say so, a 20-year-old boy’s dream has come true. I am eternally grateful to the audience for honouring my performances and for recommending this film with such love. It is a privilege to be sharing my first National Award with an icon like Shah Rukh Khan.”

“Lastly, I dedicate this award to all the marginalised people in our society - those who are often looked through and those who are fighting the socio-economic paradigm of our country every single day,” he further shared.

On her win for ‘Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway’, Rani Mukerji said, “I dedicate my National Award to all the incredible mothers of this world. There is nothing like a mother’s love and her ferocity to protect her own. The story of this Indian immigrant mother who went all out for her child and took on a nation shook me deeply. A mother’s love for her child is unconditional. I realised this when I had my own. So, this win and this film feel deeply emotional and personal. A mother can move mountains for her children and also make the world a better place. This film tried to show this.”

Filmmaker Karan Johar, who reacted to ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’ National Award win, wrote, “It feels surreal. Two years on, to receive so much love for a film that we put so much love into. To have everyone across the world resonate so deeply, that they choose to call the story, the music, the characters, the dance and everything - their own.”

“My deepest gratitude once again to the #NationalFilmAwards for having #RockAurRaniKiiPremKahaani receive this honour for ‘Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment’. And my biggest love and hugs to @vaibhavi.merchant and her team for giving us the ‘Best Choreography’ for ‘Dhindhora Baje Re’! I’m a happy man today and I will remain forever grateful for this,” he added.

2023 was one of the more successful years for Indian cinema in the recent past. The year saw the release of popular Hindi films like ‘Pathaan’, ‘Animal’, ‘12th Fail’, ‘OMG 2’, ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’, ‘The Kerala Story’ and ‘Adipurush’.

In Telugu cinema, films like ‘Sita Ramam’, ‘Month of Madhu’, ‘Balagam’, ‘Dasara’ and others were released. In Tamil cinema, films like ‘Jailer’ and ‘Leo’ proved to be massive blockbusters. Malayalam films like ‘Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam’, ‘2018: Everyone is a Hero’, ‘Iratta’, ‘Kaathal: The Core, ‘Adrishya’ and ‘Jalakangal’ were also released in 2023.

WINNERS OF NATIONAL FILM AWARDS 2025

Feature Categories

Best Feature Film: 12th Fail

Best Actor: Shah Rukh Khan (Jawan) & Vikrant Massey (12th Fail)

Best Actress: Rani Mukerji (Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway)

Best Director: Sudipto Sen (The Kerala Story)

Best Supporting Actress: Urvashi (Ullozhukku) & Janki Bodiwala (Vash)

Best Supporting Actor: Vijayaraghavan (Pookkaalam) & Mutthupettai Somu Bhaskar (Parking)

Best Feature Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani

Best Film Promoting National, Social Values: Sam Bahadur

Best Child Artist: Sukriti Veni Bandreddi, Kabir Khandane & Treesh Thosar

Best Cinematography: Prasantanu Mohapatra (The Kerala Story)

Best Screenplay: Sai Rajesh Neelam (Baby) & Ramkumar Balakrishna (Parking)

Best Dialogue Writer: Deepak Kingrani (Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai)

Best Production Design: Mohandas for ‘2018: Everyone is a Hero’ (Malayalam)

Best Action Choreography: Hanu-Man (Telugu)

Best Make-Up Artist: Shrikant Desai (Sam Bahadur)

Best Costume Design: Sachin Lovalekar, Divvya & Nidhiii Gambhir (Sam Bahadur)

Best Music Direction for Songs: Vaathi (Tamil)

Best Music Direction for Background Scores: Harshavardhan Rameshwar (Animal)

Best Lyrics: Balagam (The Group)

Best Male Playback Singer: PVN S Rohit (Premisthunna)

Best Female Playback Singer: Shilpa Rao (Chaleya)

Best Choreography: Vaibhavi Merchant (Dhindhora Baje)

Best Sound Design: Sachin Sudhakaran & Hariharan Muralidharan (Animal)

Best Editing: Midhun Murali (Pookkaalam)

Best Action Direction: Hanu-Man (Telugu)

Best Assamese Film: Rongatapu 1982

Best Bengali Film: Deep Fridge

Best Hindi Film: Kathal - A Jackfruit Mystery

Best Kannada Film: Kandeelu - The Ray of Hope

Best Malayalam Film: Ullozhukku

Best Marathi Film: Shyamchi Aai

Best Odia Film: Pushkara

Best Punjabi Film: Godday Godday Chaa

Best Tamil Film: Parking

Best Tai Phake Film: Pai Tang… Step of Hope

Best Garo Film: Rimdogittanga

Best Telugu Film: Bhagavanth Kesari

Best Gujarati Film: Vash

Non-Feature Categories

Best Non-Fiction Film: Flowering Man

Best Debut Film of a Director: The Spirit Dreams of Cheraw

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

Best Art/Culture Film: Timeless Tamil Nadu

Best Documentary Film: God Vulture and Human

Best Non-Feature Film Promoting Social and Environmental Values: The Silent Epidemic

Best Short Film: Giddh The Scavenger

Best Direction: Piyush Thakur (The First Film)

Best Cinematography: Meenakshi Soman & Saravanamaruthu Soundarapandi (Little Wings)

Best Sound Design: Shubarun Sengupta (Dhundhgiri Ke Phool)

Best Editing: Niladri Roy (Moving Focus)

Best Music Direction: Pranil Desai (The First Film)

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

Best Script: Sunflowers Were The First Ones To Know

Special Mentions: Nekal - Chronicle of the Paddy Man; The Sea and the Seven Villages

Best Film Critic: Utpal Datta