The Central Government has announced the winners of the 71st National Film Awards, with 12th Fail being named Best National Film. The Best Actor award was shared by Shah Rukh Khan for Jawan and Vikrant Massey for 12th Fail, while Rani Mukerji won Best Actress for her performance in Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway.
In the regional categories, Nandamuri Balakrishna and Anil Ravipudi’s Bhagavanth Kesari was declared Best Telugu Film. Kandilu won Best Kannada Film, Parking took Best Tamil Film, and Kathal secured Best Hindi Film. Telugu film HanuMan won Best Action Direction, while the song Uru-Palleturu from Balagam was honored as Best Film Song. GV Prakash Kumar (for Vaathi) received Best Music Director, Sai Rajesh won Best Screenplay Writer for Baby, and PVNS Rohit won Best Male Playback Singer for the same film.
Key Awards – Feature Films:
* Best Film: 12th Fail (Hindi)
* 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 Telugu Film: Bhagavanth Kesari
* Best Tamil Film: Parking
* Best Music Direction: GV Prakash Kumar (Vaathi)
* Best Background Music: Harshavardhan Rameshwar (Animal)
* Best Screenplay: Sai Rajesh (Baby), Ramkumar Balakrishnan (Parking)
* Best Playback Singers: Shilpa Rao (Chaleya – Jawan), PVNS Rohit (Baby)
* Best Animation/VFX Film: HanuMan (Telugu)
* Best Popular Film: Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani (Hindi)
Non-Feature Films:
* Best Non-Feature Film: Flowering Man (Hindi)
* Best Script: Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know (Kannada)
* Best Direction: The First Film (Hindi)
* Best Arts/Culture Film: Timeless Tamil Nadu (English)
* Special Mentions: Nekal: Chronicle of Paddy Man (Malayalam), The Sea and Seven Villages (Odia)
The awards recognized outstanding performances and technical excellence across Indian cinema, celebrating diverse regional films and groundbreaking contributions to filmmaking.
