National Film Award for Best Debut Film of a Director

The National Film Award for Best Debut Film of a Director is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Golden Lotus (Swarna Kamal).

National Film Award for Best Debut Film of a Director
National award for contributions to Indian Cinema
Awarded for	Best debutant directorial work of a year
Sponsored by	National Film Development Corporation of India
Formerly called	{Award for Best First Film of a Director (1980–1983) Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director (1984–2009) Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director (2010–2021)
Reward(s)	Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) ₹3,00,000
First awarded	1980
Last awarded	2022
Most recent winner	Fouja
Highlights
Total awarded	45
First winner	Maina Tadanta
Website	http://dff.gov.in/

The award was instituted in 1980, at 28th National Film Awards^[1] and has been awarded annually for films produced in the year across the country, in all Indian languages; Hindi (11 Awards), Bengali and Malayalam (9 Awards each), Tamil (5 Awards), Marathi (3 Awards), Assamese, English and Telugu (2 each), Haryanvi, Jasari, Karbi and Ladakhi (1 Each).

The award includes 'Golden Lotus Award' (Swarna Kamal) and cash prize. Until 69th edition, the award was given to director and producer. The name was shortened to Best Debut Film of a Director since 70th National Film Awards,^[2][3] and the director alone is awarded. The prize money was increased to ₹3,00,000.^[4]

Winners

Indicates a joint award for that year

1980 – 2021

List of award films, showing the year (award ceremony), language(s), producer(s), director(s) and citation
Year	Film(s)	Language(s)	Producer(s)	Director(s)	Citation	Refs.
1980 (28th)	Maina Tadanta	Bengali	–	Utpalendu Chakrabarty	For depicting with realistic vigor the exploitation perpetrated on the tribal and the landless, for portraying the spirited fight of the downtrodden and for showing great maturity in the conception and presentation of the theme in this maiden venture.	[1]
1981 (29th)	Aadharshila	Hindi	Ashok Ahuja	Ashok Ahuja	For making a bold statement on the aspirations and frustrations of the young generation of film-makers he himself represents and for a very sensitive treatment of the relationship between an idealist director and an inscrutable story-write.	[5]
1982 (30th)	Kann Sivanthaal Mann Sivakkum	Tamil	R. Venkat Raman	Sreedhar Rajan	For its original interpretation of a deep-rooted social evil, combining folk art with modern cinematic idiom.	[6]
1983 (31st)	Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro	Hindi	NFDC	Kundan Shah	For its treatment of contemporary theme with wit and humour.	[7]
1984 (32nd)	Meendum Oru Kaathal Kathai	Tamil	Radhika Pothan	Prathap K. Pothan	–	[8]
1985 (33rd)	New Delhi Times	Hindi	P. K. Tiwari	Romesh Sharma	For a bold exposure of a murky world of politics where murder and mayhem are engineered for personal gains and truth becomes a casualty.	[9]
1986 (34th)	Yeh Woh Manzil To Nahin	Hindi	Sudhir Mishra	Sudhir Mishra	For an incisive analysis of history as seen through the eyes of three elderly freedom fighters and its impact on their stand against social injustice in contemporary times.	[10]
1987 (35th)	Ekti Jiban	Bengali	Chalchitra	Raja Mitra	For a very courageous first attempt of a director in tackling the subject of an individual unwavering in his conviction in the cultural value of his language and single handly making available its enriching value to the generation of his people who will come after him.	[11]
1988 (36th)	Trishagni	Hindi	Nabendu Ghosh	Nabendu Ghosh	For excellent exploration of complex philosophical theme for the first time in Indian cinema.	[12]
1989 (37th)	Wosobipo	Karbi	Karbi Anglong District Council	Gautam Bora	For its fresh and original evocation of the collective unconscious of a hill tribe whose way of life has been disintegrating over the last four decades, as seen through the eyes of a boy growing up into the responsibilities of manhood.	[13]
1990 (38th)	Perumthachan	Malayalam	G. Jayakumar	Ajayan	For depicting a historical backdrop with authenticity, shattering all traditional beliefs with superlative artistic texture.	[14]
1991 (39th)	Haladhar	Assamese	• Geeti Barua  • Dwijen Hazorika	Sanjeev Hazorika	For its freshness of approach, the subtlety of its pervasive humour and the courage shown in choosing to build a film around a plough.	[15]
1992 (40th)	Miss Beatty's Children	English	• NFDC  • Doordarshan  • Rooks AV	Pamela Rooks	For an elegantly simple and sensitive depiction of a British missionary woman who fights the devdasi system in pre-independent India.	[16]
1993 (41st)	Sunya Theke Suru	Bengali	• H. Das  • Madhumanti Maitra  • M. Das	Ashoke Viswanathan	For its creative handling of sensitive subject, exhibiting the socio-political situation of out society, spanning three decades.	[17]
1994 (42nd)	Mogamul	Tamil	J. Dharmambal	Gnana Rajasekaran	For an able translation of a literary work of art, for integrating music with melodramatic narrative and for a cinematic simplicity matched with remarkable directorial control.	[18]
1995 (43rd)	Kahini	Bengali	• Chandramala Bhattacharya  • Malaya Bhattacharya	Malaya Bhattacharya	For its bold and innovative style and choice of a subject in which the form and content merges into one.	[19]
1996 (44th)	Rag Birag	Assamese	• Bhabhen Baruah  • Khanin Baruah	Bidyut Chakraborty	For director's sensitivity in portraying complex human psyche of individual character's in the film.	[20]
1997 (45th)	Bhoothakkannadi	Malayalam	Nair Krishnakumar Unni	A. K. Lohithadas	For the director's competent handling of the delicate balance of the human psyche.	[21]
1998 (46th)	Daya	Malayalam	C. K. Gopinath	Venu	For its depiction of a delightful fairy-tale-like theme lending exotic sophistication and colour to the unique mosaic of creativity, imagination and style.	[22]
1999 (47th)	Dollar Dreams	English	Sekhar Kammula	Sekhar Kammula	For tacking in a very natural manner the burning problem of brain drain to the techno-logically developed world.	[23]
	Laado	Haryanvi	Kumud Chaudhary	Ashwini Chaudhary	For taking a bold stand over women's rights in the traditionally orthodox agricultural community of Haryana.
2000 (48th)	Sayahnam	Malayalam	M. S. Nazeer	R. Sarath	For the nature and gripping manner in which this young director deals with complex issues like political honesty and nuclear disarmament.	[24]
2001 (49th)	Thilaadanam	Telugu	NFDC	K. N. T. Sastry	For its juxtaposition of two diverse ideologies existing within the same family, the father's belief in his religion and traditions and his son's revolutionary ideology. The film strikes a very fine balance in inter-generational explorations.	[25]
2002 (50th)	Patalghar	Bengali	Niti Sonee Gourisaria	Abhijit Chaudhuri	For its craftsmanship and fine blending of the conventions of science fiction and an indigenous narrative form.	[26]
	Prohor	Bengali	Debjani Gupta	Subhadro Chaudhary	For its use of sensitive idiom to portray the trauma of a brutalized woman.
2003 (51st)	Margam	Malayalam	Rajiv Vijay Raghavan	Rajiv Vijay Raghavan	For poignantly capturing the troubled journey of a middle-aged individual reexamining his political past in the light of prevailing socio-political values.	[27]
2004 (52nd)	Grahanam	Telugu	N. Anji Reddy	Mohan Krishna Indraganti	For invoking nostalgia in a manner that is powerful yet poetic.	[28]
2005 (53rd)	Parineeta	Hindi	Vidhu Vinod Chopra	Pradeep Sarkar	For the competent directorial style to recreate a classic novel with modern cinematic sensibilities.	[29]
2006 (54th)	Eakantham	Malayalam	Anthony Joseph	Madhu Kaithapram	For sensitively portraying the solitude of two ageing brothers who have lost everyone around them.	[30]
	Kabul Express	Hindi	Aditya Chopra	Kabir Khan	For capturing, through the journey of two Indian journalists, the collapse of Taliban in post 9/11 Afghanistan.
2007 (55th)	Frozen	• Hindi  • Ladakhi	Shivajee Chandrabhushan	Shivajee Chandrabhushan	For bringing to life with warmth and vivacity life in those distant desolate snow bound heights where existence itself is a fulltime challenge.	[31]
2008 (56th)	A Wednesday!	Hindi	UTV Motion Pictures	Neeraj Pandey	For slick and searing exposure of the tension below the normal rhythm of life and the angst of the common man in Mumbai.	[32]
2009 (57th)	Lahore	Hindi	Vivek Khatkar	Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan	For excellent control over the medium and using sport as a metaphor to tell a compelling story.	[33]
2010 (58th)	Baboo Band Baaja	Marathi	Nita Jadhav	Rajesh Pinjani	For a riveting tale of a father reluctant to educate his son, a mother who fiercely believes in its liberatory value, and the son who is caught in the crossfire, 'Baboo' is an outstanding debut project by director.	[34]
2011 (59th)	Aaranya Kaandam	Tamil	S. P. Charan	Thiagarajan Kumararaja	For a stylized and ironic reinvention of the gangster genre that presents a dazzling map of Chennai's subterranean world of druglords and violence. The director cinematically scrutinizes the landscape of decaying architecture, abandoned factories, old cars and the crisis of masculinity to present a labyrinthine urban dystopia. The city emerges as a wasteland that is simultaneously mundane, shocking and nightmarish.	[35]
2012 (60th)	Chittagong	Hindi	Bedabrata Pain	Bedabrata Pain	A page from the history of India's independence struggle. The director has recreated a small town incident which had national impact with consummate artistry in his debut film.	[36]
	101 Chodyangal	Malayalam	Thomas Kottackkakom	Sidhartha Siva	Highly watchable cinematic experience presented through a special relationship between a young precocious child and his conscientious school teacher. The director in his debut film has done a commendable job in putting forth a topical and sensitive issue.
2013 (61st)	Fandry	Marathi	• Navalkha Arts  • Holy Basil Combine	Nagraj Manjule	A stark and realistic portrayal of Dalits in India seen through the eyes of a young boy who is desperately trying to break age old shackles. It makes a strong statement that despite various reformers doing their best.... much remains to be done.	[37]
2014 (62nd)	Asha Jaoar Majhe	Bengali	• For Films  • Salaam Cinema	Aditya Vikram Sengupta	For the portrayal of routine ordinary life with extraordinary cinematic finesse.	[38]
2015 (63rd)	Masaan	Hindi	Phantom Films	Neeraj Ghaywan	For his perceptive approach to film-making in handling a layered story of people caught up changing social and moral values.	[39]
2016 (64th)	Alifa	Bengali	Amaan Ahmed	Deep Choudhury	It brings out the nuances of a very complex socio-environmental problem.	[40]
2017 (65th)	Sinjar	Jasari	Shibu G. Suseelan	Pampally	–
2018 (66th)	Naal	Marathi	Nagraj Manjule	Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti	The film is a poignant message about the ethics of adoption, told through a child’s perspective.	[41][42]
2019 (67th)	Helen	Malayalam	Vineeth Sreenivasan	Mathukutty Xavier	An engaging way of story-telling of a young girl entrapped in a cold storage in the middle of night and the frantic struggle of her lover and father to locate her.
2020 (68th)	Mandela	Tamil	S. Sashikanth	Madonne Ashwin	For highlighting the value of every single vote in a working democracy in an entertaining manner.	[43]
2021 (69th)	Meppadiyan	Malayalam	Unni Mukundan Films	Vishnu Mohan		[44]

2022 – present

Since the 70th National Film Awards, director alone is awarded.

List of award films, showing the year (award ceremony), language(s), producer(s), director(s) and citation
Year	Film(s)	Language(s)	Director(s)	Citation	Refs.
2022 (70th)	Fouja	Haryanvi	Pramod Kumar		[45]

References

1. "28th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
2. "Indira and Nargis dropped from names of top film awards". The Hindu. 13 February 2024. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
3. "Indira Gandhi, Nargis Dutt's names dropped from National Film Awards categories". India Today. 13 February 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
4. "Report on Rationalization of Awards Conferred by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting | Ministry of Information and Broadcasting | Government of India". mib.gov.in. Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
5. "29th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
6. "30th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
7. "31st National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
8. "32nd National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
9. "33rd National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
10. "34th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
11. "35th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
12. "36th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
13. "37th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
14. "38th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
15. "39th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
16. "40th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
17. "41st National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
18. "42nd National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
19. "43rd National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
20. "44th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
21. "45th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
22. "46th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
23. "47th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
24. "48th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
25. "49th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
26. "50th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
27. "51st National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
28. "52nd National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
29. "53rd National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
30. "54th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
31. "55th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
32. "56th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
33. "57th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
34. "58th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
35. "59th National Film Awards for the Year 2011 Announced". Press Information Bureau (PIB), India. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
36. "60th National Film Awards Announced" (PDF) (Press release). Press Information Bureau (PIB), India. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
37. "61st National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. 16 April 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
38. "62nd National Film Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Directorate of Film Festivals. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
39. "63rd National Film Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Directorate of Film Festivals. 28 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
40. "64th National Film Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
41. "66th National Film Awards winners' list: 'Andhadhun', 'KGF', 'Padmaavat' win the prestigious award". The Times of India.
42. "66th National Film Awards: Full winners list". India Today. Ist.
43. "68th National Film Awards | Soorarai Pottru wins Best Film award". The Hindu. 22 July 2022. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
44. "69th National Film Awards 2023 complete winners list: Rocketry, Alia Bhatt, Kriti Sanon, Allu Arjun, RRR, Gangubai Kathiawadi win big". 24 August 2023.
45. "70th National Film Awards announcement live updates: Rishabh Shetty wins Best Actor, Attam is Best Feature Film". Hindustan Times.

External links

• Official Page for Directorate of Film Festivals, India
• National Film Awards Archives
• National Film Awards at IMDb