| 59th National Film Awards | |
|---|---|
 59th National Film Awards event logo | |
| Awarded for | Best of Indian cinema in 2011 |
| Awarded by | Directorate of Film Festivals |
| Presented by | Mohammad Hamid Ansari (Vice-President of India) |
| Announced on | 7 March 2012 (2012-03-07) |
| Presented on | 3 May 2012 (2012-05-03) |
| Site | Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi |
| Hosted by | Vinay Pathak andSaumya Tandon |
| Official website | dff.nic.in |
| Highlights | |
| Best Feature Film | |
| Best Non-Feature Film | And We Play On |
| Best Book | R. D. Burman: The Man The Music |
| Best Film Critic | Manoj Barpujari |
| Dadasaheb Phalke Award | Soumitra Chatterjee |
| Most awards | • Anhe Ghore Da Daan • Balgandharva • Chillar Party • Deool • Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona • The Dirty Picture (3) |
The59th National Film Awards, presented by theDirectorate of Film Festivals, honoured the best ofIndian cinema for 2011 and took place on 3 May 2012 atVigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. Awards were presented in 38 categories inthe Feature Films section, 20 categories inthe Non-Feature Films section and two categories for the Best Writing on Cinema section; 41 jury members chose the winners from 392 entries. The ceremony was hosted by actorsVinay Pathak andSaumya Tandon. Awards were presented by the Vice-President of India,Mohammad Hamid Ansari. The ceremony was broadcast live on three television channels, elevenAll India Radio stations, and webcast live.
Deool, aMarathi film, andByari, the first and onlyBeary film, shared the award for theBest Feature Film. The award for theBest Non-Feature Film was given to theHindi-English documentaryAnd We Play On. The book,R. D. Burman: The Man, The Music, co-authored byAnirudha Bhattacharjee and Balaji Vittal, won theBest Book on Cinema;Assamese film criticManoj Barpujari was declared theBest Film Critic.Gurvinder Singh won thebest feature film direction award for his directorial debut,Anhe Ghore Da Daan. For the filmDeool,Girish Kulkarni won the awards forBest Actor andBest Dialogue;Bollywood actressVidya Balan won theBest Actress award forThe Dirty Picture. TheDadasaheb Phalke Award, regarded as the most prestigious recognition in Indian cinema, was given to the veteran Bengali actorSoumitra Chatterjee for his contribution toBengali cinema.
The Directorate of Film Festivals invited nominations for the 2012 award ceremony on 26 December 2011.[1] Feature and Non-Feature Films certified byCentral Board of Film Certification between 1 January 2011, and 31 December 2011, were eligible for the film award categories. The written material on Indian cinema published in Indian print media during the same period were eligible for the best writing on cinema section.[2] The dubbed, revised or copied versions of a film or translation, abridgements, edited or annotated works and reprints were ineligible for the awards.[3] The deadline for submissions was 17 January 2012.[1]
The Feature Film category received 186 entries in 19 languages, marking the highest number of submissions in the history of the National Film Awards, as of 2011. A total of 156 entries were received in the Non-Feature Films category along with 28 books and 22 articles which were submitted for the Best Writing in Cinema.[4]
The National Film Awards are grouped into three sections: Feature Films, Non-Feature Films and Writing on Cinema. On 7 March 2012, in a press conference held at Shastri Bhavan, New Delhi, the winners for the 2012 award ceremony were announced.[5] A lifetime achievement award, named afterDadasaheb Phalke, was awarded to a film personality for an outstanding contribution to the Indian Cinema. The winners were awarded a medallion, a cash prize and a certificate of merit.[3][6]
Introduced in 1969, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award is the highest award given to recognise the contributions of film personalities towards the development of Indian cinema and for distinguished contributions to the medium, its growth and promotion.[7] A committee consisting of five personalities from the Indian film industry was appointed to evaluate the Dadasaheb Phalke award nominations for 2011. Following were the jury members:[8]
| • Shyam Benegal |
| • Girish Kasaravalli |
| • Saeed Akhtar Mirza |
| • Ramesh Sippy |
| • V. K. Murthy |
The Dadasaheb Phalke award for 2011 was announced on 23 March 2012. ActorSoumitra Chatterjee won the award for his contribution to Indian cinema, predominantly inBengali cinema.[9] Chatterjee was a regular inSatyajit Ray films, has worked with other notable directors such asMrinal Sen andTapan Sinha in a career lasting over 50 years.
| Name of Award | Image | Awardee(s) | Awarded As | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dadasaheb Phalke Award |  | Soumitra Chatterjee[10] | Actor | Swarna Kamal,₹1 million (US$12,000) and a Shawl |
Feature films were awarded at national and regional levels. AMarathi film,Deool and aBeary film,Byari, shared theNational Film Award for Best Feature Film.Deool became the third Marathi film to win the honour afterShyamchi Aai (1953) andShwaas (2003).[11] The film's author and lead actor,Girish Kulkarni, won the awards for Best Actor andBest Dialogues.Byari is the first feature film ever made in the Beary language.[12] In this section, 24 films won awards, and six films, includingDeool, thePunjabi filmAnhe Ghore Da Daan, another Marathi filmBalgandharva, a Bengali filmRanjana Ami Ar Ashbona and twoHindi filmsChillar Party andThe Dirty Picture, won three awards each.[13]
For the Feature Film section, six committees were formed based on the different geographic regions in India. The two-tier evaluation process included a central committee and five regional committees. The central committee, headed by the actorRohini Hattangadi, included the heads of each regional committee and five other jury members. At regional level, each committee consisted of one chief and four members. The chief and one non-chief member of each regional committee were selected from outside that geographic region. The table below names the jury members for the central and regional committees:[13][14]
Central Jury
| • Rohini Hattangadi (Chairperson)(Actress) | |
| • K. Hariharan(Filmmaker) | • K. P. Kumaran(Filmmaker) |
| • Vinay Shukla(Filmmaker) | • Aloknanda Roy(Actress) |
| • A. S. Kanal(Filmmaker, cinematographer and editor) | • Latika Padgaonkar(Writer) |
| • Prakash Belawadi(Director and journalist) | • Hiren Bora(Actor) |
| • Kishwar Desai(Author) | • Ranjani Mazumdar(Author) |
Northern Region:(Bhojpuri, Dogri , English, Hindi, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Urdu)
| • K. Hariharan (Head) | |
| • Amrik Gill(Writer) | • Ayesha Sayani(Ad filmmaker) |
| • K. Bikram Singh(Filmmaker) | • Shyamal Karmakar(Director and editor) |
Eastern Region:(Assamese, Bengali, Oriya and North-Eastern dialects)
| • K. P. Kumaran (Head) | |
| • Satarupa Sanyal(Filmmaker, actress and poet) | • Dilip Patnaik(Filmmaker) |
| • Bhagirathi(Actress) | • Ganesh Matkari(Film critic) |
Western Region:(Gujarati, Konkani, Marathi)
| • Vinay Shukla (Head) | |
| • Pandhari Juker(Makeup Artist) | • Kanchan Nayak(Director) |
| • Hemendra Chaya(Actor) | • Banwari Taneja(Actor) |
Southern Region I:(Malayalam, Tamil)
| • Aloknanda Roy (Head) | |
| • Sashi Paravoor(Director) | • T. G. Thyagarajan(Producer) |
| • S. P. Jananathan(Director) | • Bela Negi(Filmmaker and editor) |
Southern Region II:(Kannada, Telugu)
| • A. S. Kanal (Head) | |
| • Umashanker Swamy(Filmmaker) | • P. H. Vishwanath(Filmmaker) |
| • K. Satyanarayana(Filmmaker) | • Ratnottama Sengupta(Film critic) |
At national level, feature films competed in 29 categories. TheSwarna Kamal (Golden Lotus Award) was awarded in five categories, theRajat Kamal (Silver Lotus Award) in the rest. In this edition, the Golden Lotus Award for the Best Animation Film and eight Silver Lotus Awards were not announced. The awards given were as follows:[15][16]
All the winners were awarded with aSwarna Kamal (Golden Lotus Award), a certificate and a cash prize.[3]
| Name of Award | Name of Film(s) | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Feature Film | Deool | Marathi Director:Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni | ₹250,000 (US$3,000) | |
| Byari | Beary | Producer: T. H. Althaf Hussain Director:Suveeran | ||
| Best Debut Film of a Director | Aaranya Kaandam | Tamil | Producer:S. P. B. Charan Director:Thiagarajan Kumararaja | ₹125,000 (US$1,500) |
| Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment | Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai | Tamil | Producer: P. Madhan Director:Suseenthiran | ₹200,000 (US$2,400) |
| Best Children's Film | Chillar Party | Hindi | Producer:UTV Software Communications,Salman Khan Director:Vikas Bahl andNitesh Tiwari | ₹150,000 (US$1,800) |
| Best Direction | Anhe Ghore Da Daan | Punjabi | Gurvinder Singh | ₹250,000 (US$3,000) |
All the winners were awarded with aRajat Kamal (Silver Lotus Award), a certificate and a cash prize.[3]
National Film Awards are also given to the best films in the regional languages of India. Awards for the regional languages are categorised as per their mention in theEighth schedule of theConstitution of India. Awardees included producers and directors of the film. No films in languages other than those specified in the Schedule VIII of the Constitution were eligible.[15][16]
All the winners were awarded withRajat Kamal (Silver Lotus Award), a certificate and cash prize.[3] Following were the awards given:
| Name of Award | Name of Film | Awardee(s) | Cash prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Producer(s) | Director | |||
| Best Feature Film in Bengali | Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona | Rana Sarkar | Anjan Dutt | ₹100,000 (US$1,200) |
| Best Feature Film in Dogri | Dille Ch Vasya Koi | Sanjeev Rattan | Sanjeev Rattan | ₹100,000 (US$1,200) |
| Best Feature Film in Hindi | I Am | • Onir • Sanjay Suri | Onir | ₹100,000 (US$1,200) |
| Best Feature Film in Kannada | Koormavatara | Basant Kumar Patil | Girish Kasaravalli | ₹100,000 (US$1,200) |
| Best Feature Film in Malayalam | Indian Rupee | August Cinema India Pvt. Ltd. | Ranjith | ₹100,000 (US$1,200) |
| Best Feature Film in Manipuri | Phijigee Mani | • Takhelchangbam Ongbi Medha Sharmi | Oinam Gautam Singh | ₹100,000 (US$1,200) |
| Best Feature Film in Marathi | Shala | • Vivek Wagh • Nilesh Navalkar | Sujay Dahake | ₹100,000 (US$1,200) |
| Best Feature Film in Punjabi | Anhe Ghore Da Daan | NFDC | Gurvinder Singh | ₹100,000 (US$1,200) |
| Best Feature Film in Tamil | Vaagai Sooda Vaa | S. Muruganandham | A. Sarkunam | ₹100,000 (US$1,200) |
In the Non-Feature Film section, 21 films won awards. Three films—Panchakki,There is Something in the Air andTiger Dynasty—won three awards each.There is Something in the Air also won the award for best direction—one of the Golden Lotus awards for Non-Feature Films.[16] Three Silver Lotus Awards from Non-Feature Films section were not awarded.
A committee of seven, headed by directorRomesh Sharma, was appointed to evaluate the Non-Feature Films entries. The jury members were:[13]
| • Romesh Sharma (Chairperson)(Producer and director) | |
| • Brahmanand Singh(Filmmaker and screen writer) | • Supriyo Sen(Director) |
| • Suresh Kohli(Journalist) | • Sameer Hanchate(Producer and director) |
| • Haobam Paban Kumar(Director) | • Gouri Patwardhan(Cinematographer) |
All the winners were awarded withSwarna Kamal (Golden Lotus Award), a certificate and cash prize.[3]
| Name of Award | Name of Film(s) | Language(s) | Awardee(s) | Cash prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Non-Feature Film | And We Play On | • Hindi • English | Producer: Pramod Purswane Director: Pramod Purswane | ₹150,000 (US$1,800) |
| Best Non-Feature Film Direction | There is Something in the Air | • Hindi • Urdu • English | Iram Ghufran | ₹150,000 (US$1,800) |
All the winners were awarded withRajat Kamal (Silver Lotus Award) and cash prize.[3]
| Name of Award | Name of Film(s) | Language(s) | Awardee(s) | Cash prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best First Non-Feature Film | The Silent Poet | Manipuri | Producer: Borun Thokchom Director: Borun Thokchom | ₹75,000 (US$890) |
| Best Anthropological / Ethnographic Film | Bom | • Hindi • English | Producer: Anirban Datta Director: Amlan Datta | ₹50,000 (US$590) |
| Best Biographical Film /Best Historical Reconstruction Film | Vishnupant Damle: Bolpatancha Mook Nayak | Marathi | Producer: Anil Anant Damle Director: Virendra Valsangkar | ₹50,000 (US$590) |
| Best Arts / Cultural Film | Fried Fish, Chicken Soup and a Premiere Show | • Manipuri • English | Producer:Madhusree Dutta Director: Mamta Murthy | ₹50,000 (US$590) |
| Lasya Kavvya – The World of Alarmel Valli | English | Producer: Sankalp Meshram Director: Sankalp Meshram | ||
| Best Environment / Conservation / Preservation Film | Tiger Dynasty | English | Producer: S. Nallamuthu Director: S. Nallamuthu | ₹50,000 (US$590) |
| Best Promotional Film | The Dream Fulfilled — Memories of the Engineering Challenges | English | Producer: Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Director: Satish Pande | ₹50,000 (US$590) |
| Best Film on Social Issues | Mindscapes... of Love and Longing | • Hindi • English | Producer: Public Service Broadcasting Trust Director: Arun Chadha | ₹50,000 (US$590) |
| Inshallah, Football | • Kashmiri • Urdu • English | Producer:Javed Jaffrey Director:Ashvin Kumar | ||
| Best Educational / Motivational / Instructional Film | A Drop of Sunshine | English | Producer: Public Service Broadcasting Trust Director: Aparna Sanyal | ₹50,000 (US$590) |
| Best Exploration / Adventure Film (Including sports) | The Finish Line | English | Producer: Syed Sultan Ahmed and Tabassum Modi Director: Akshay Roy | ₹50,000 (US$590) |
| Best Investigative Film | Cotton for My Shroud | English | Producer: Kavita Bahl Director: Nandan Saxena and Kavita Bahl | ₹50,000 (US$590) |
| Best Short Fiction Film | Panchakki | Hindi | Producer: Sanjeev Rattan Director: Sanjeev Rattan | ₹50,000 (US$590) |
| Best Film on Family Welfare | Red Building where the Sun Sets | English | Producer: Syed Sultan Ahmed and Tabassum Modi Director:Revathi | ₹50,000 (US$590) |
| Best Cinematography | Tiger Dynasty | English | Cameraman: S. Nallamuthu | ₹50,000 (US$590) |
| Best Audiography | 1, 2 | Hindi | Gautam Nair | ₹50,000 (US$590) |
| Best Editing | There is Something in the Air | • Hindi • Urdu • English | Iram Ghufran | ₹50,000 (US$590) |
| Best Music Direction | Panchakki | Hindi | Dhrubajyoti Phukan | ₹50,000 (US$590) |
| Best Narration / Voice Over | Just that Sort of a Day | English | Ann Abraham | ₹50,000 (US$590) |
| Special Jury Award | Jai Bhim Comrade | Marathi | Anand Patwardhan (Director) | ₹100,000 (US$1,200) |
| Special Mention | You Don't Belong | • Bengali • English | Spandan Banerjee (Director) | Certificate only |
| Airawat | • Marathi • Hindi | Renu Savant (Director) |
The Best Writing on Cinema awards are intended to encourage the study and appreciation of cinema as an art form and the dissemination of information and critical appreciation of the medium through books, articles, reviews etc.[15]
A committee of three, headed by the National Award-winning writerVijaya Mulay was appointed to evaluate the nominations for the best writing on Indian cinema. The jury members were as follows:[13]
| • Vijaya Mulay (Chairperson)(Filmmaker and writer) | |
| • J. M. Parakh(Writer) | • M. F. Thomas(Editor and writer) |
Official Name:Swarna Kamal
All the winners were awarded withSwarna Kamal (Golden Lotus Award), cash prize and a certificate.[3]
| Name of Award | Name of Book | Language | Awardee(s) | Cash prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Book on Cinema | R. D. Burman: The Man The Music | English | Author:Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Balaji Vittal Publisher:Harper Collins India | ₹75,000 (US$890) |
| Name of Award | Language(s) | Awardee | Cash prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Film Critic | • Assamese • English | Manoj Barpujari | ₹75,000 (US$890) |
Across all the sections, 12 out of 60 awards were not presented. Some were not awarded because no entries were submitted and for others, no suitable films were found. All the awards for the Best Writing on Cinema section were awarded. The following awards from the other two sections were not given:[15][16]
The awards presentation ceremony took place on 3 May 2012, atVigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. The ceremony was presided over by the Vice-President of India,Mohammad Hamid Ansari.[a 1][a 2] Other dignitaries present wereAmbika Soni (Minister of Information and Broadcasting), Vinod Lamba (President ofFilm Federation of India), Dharmesh Tiwari (President ofFederation of Western India Cine Employees), and two Ministers of State for Information and Broadcasting, C. M. Jatua and R. Jagathrakshkan. The chairpersons of the jury for the three awards sections were also present. The show was hosted by Hindi film actorVinay Pathak and Hindi television actress,Saumya Tandon.[a 2][a 3] It was broadcast live on the television channelsDoordarshan 1,DD India andDD News; on elevenAll India Radio stations; and on the official websites of the Directorate of Film Festivals and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.[a 3][a 4] The public screenings of the award-winning films were scheduled from 1 June 2012, to 10 June 2012, at theSiri Fort Auditorium II, New Delhi.[a 5][a 6]
To mark the centenary of Indian cinema, the ceremony started with clips of the first full-length Indian feature film,Raja Harishchandra (1913). Directed by Dadasaheb Phalke, this silent film was released on 3 May 1913 atCoronation Cinema, Mumbai. To honour this historic event, Soni announced that 2013 would be observed as the centenary year of Indian Cinema and that the National Film Awards ceremony would be held on 3 May every year. She also announced that a National Heritage Mission would be set up to digitise and restore all audio and video tapes of Indian films. A Museum of Indian Cinema would also be inaugurated at theGulshan Mahal, Mumbai, before May 2013.[a 7]
Rajiv Mehrotra of the Public Service Broadcasting Trust won his twentieth National Film Award. The acclaimed Kannada directorGirish Kasaravalli received his13th National Film Award when his filmKoormavatara won theBest Feature Film in Kannada award.[a 2] The dress designerNeeta Lulla won her fourth award for the costumes inBalgandharva. Also, eleven child artists were givenBest Child Artist Awards for their performances.
Three award-winners—Anand Bhate,Roopa Ganguly andAmitabh Bhattacharya, who won the award forBest Male Playback Singer,Best Female Playback Singer andBest Lyrics respectively—performed live during the ceremony.[a 3] Both the singers performed their award-winning songs—Bhate sang "Chinmaya Sakal Hridaya" from the Marathi filmBalgandharva and Ganguly performed "Dure Kothao Dure Dure" from her filmAbosheshey. Bhattacharya was accompanied by singer-songwriterAmit Trivedi for the song "Agar Zindagi" fromI Am.[a 8]
After the awards were announced on 7 March 2012,Enajori.com, a society which promotes cultural heritage ofAssam, filed a petition against the jury's decision for not consideringEkhon Nedekha Nodir Xhipare as anAssamese film and rejecting its nomination.[17] In response to the plea theDelhi High Court issued a notice to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Directorate of Film Festivals, the Central Board of Film Certification, Rohini Hattangadi—chairperson of Feature Film section, and Hiren Bora—a jury member for the Feature Film section.[18] After examining the documents submitted for the selection of regional films, the High Court dismissed the plea. The proceedings revealed thatEkhon Nedekha Nodir Xhipare, and other films from the eastern region, were previewed and rejected by the jury. The court imposed costs of₹2,000 (US$24) on the petitioner for moving to the court without ascertaining the facts of the case.[19]
