National Film Award for Best Malayalam Feature Film

The National Film Award for Best Malayalam Feature Film 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 Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus). Since the 70th National Film Awards, the name was changed to "Best Malayalam Feature Film".^[1]

National Film Award for Best Malayalam Feature Film
National award for contributions to Indian Cinema
Awarded for	Best Malayalam Feature Film(s) of the year
Sponsored by	National Film Development Corporation of India
Formerly called	President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Malayalam (1954–1968) National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam (1969–2021)
Reward(s)	Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus) ₹2,00,000
First award	1954
Final award	2022
Most recent winner	Saudi Vellakka
Highlights
Total awarded	78
First winner	Neelakuyil

The National Film Awards, established in 1954, are the most prominent film awards in India that merit the best of the Indian cinema. The ceremony also presents awards for films in various regional languages.

Awards for films in seven regional language (Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu) started from 2nd National Film Awards which were presented on 21 December 1955.^[2] Three awards of "President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film", "Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature Film" and "Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature Film" were instituted. The later two certificate awards were discontinued from 15th National Film Awards (1967).

The first winner of the "President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Malayalam" was the 1954 film Neelakuyil. Jointly directed by P. Bhaskaran and Ramu Kariat, the film was based on a story written by Malayalam writer Uroob. It told the story of a love affair between a Dalit girl and an educated, high caste school teacher. The film is considered a landmark in Malayalam cinema history.^[3] Along with Neelakuyil, S. S. Rajan directed film Sneha Seema was honoured with a Certificate of Merit. Following is the list of Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal) recipient films produced in Malayalam language.

Winners

Award includes 'Rajat Kamal' (Silver Lotus Award) and cash prize. Following are the award winners over the years:

Awards legends
*	President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film
*	Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature Film
*	Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature Film
*	Certificate of Merit for the Best Feature Film
*	Indicates a joint award for that year

List of award films, showing the year (award ceremony), producer(s) and director(s)
Year	Film(s)	Producer(s)	Director(s)	Refs.
1954 (2nd)	Neelakuyil	Chandrathara Productions	• P. Bhaskaran  • Ramu Kariat	[2]
	Snehaseema	Associate Pictures	S. S. Rajan
1955 (3rd)	No Award			[4]
1956 (4th)	No Award			[5]
1957 (5th)	Padatha Painkili	Neela Productions	P. Subramaniam	[6]
1958 (6th)	Nairu Pidicha Pulivalu	T. E. Vasudevan	P. Bhaskaran	[7]
	Randidangazhi	Neela Productions	P. Subramaniam
1959 (7th)	Chathurangam	Capt. (Dr.) G. T. Joshua	• J. D. Thottan  • D. V. Swamy	[8]
1960 (8th)	No Award			[9]
1961 (9th)	Mudiyanaya Puthran	Chandrathara Productions	Ramu Kariat	[10]
	Kandam Becha Kottu	Modern Theatres	T. R. Sundaram
	Sabarimala Ayyappan	K. Kuppuswamy	S. M. Sriramulu Naidu
1962 (10th)	Puthiya Akasam Puthiya Bhoomi	Associated Producers	M. S. Mani	[11]
	Kalpadukal	T. R. Raghavan	K. S. Anthony
1963 (11th)	Ninamaninja Kalpadukal	• K. V. Bhavadas  • N. K. Karunakara Pillai  • K. Parameshwaran Nair	N. N. Pisharody	[12]
	Doctor	H. H. Ebrahim	M. S. Mani
	Kalayum Kaminiyum	Neela Productions	P. Subramaniam
1964 (12th)	Aadyakiranangal	• P. Bhaskaran  • V. Abdullah	P. Bhaskaran	[13]
	Kudumbini	• P. A. Thomas  • J. Sasikumar	• P. A. Thomas  • J. Sasikumar
	Thacholi Othenan	T. K. Pareekutty	S. S. Rajan	[14]
1965 (13th)	Kavyamela	T. E. Vasudevan	M. Krishnan Nair	[15]
	Odayil Ninnu	P. Ramaswamy	K.S.Sethumadhavan
	Murappennu	K. Parameswaran Nair	A. Vincent
1966 (14th)	Kunjali Marikkar	T. K. Pareekutty	S. S. Rajan
1967 (15th)	Anveshichu Kandethiyilla	K. Ravindran Nair	P. Bhaskaran	[16]
1968 (16th)	Adhyapika	Neela Productions	P. Subramaniam	[17]
1969 (17th)	Adimakal	M. O. Joseph	K. S. Sethumadhavan	[18]
1970 (18th)	Ezhuthatha Kadha	Jai Maruthy Pictures	A. B. Raj	[19]
1971 (19th)	Karakanakadal	Hari Pothan	K. S. Sethumadhavan
1972 (20th)	Panitheeratha Veedu	K. S. R. Moorthy	K. S. Sethumadhavan	[20]
1973 (21st)	Gayathri	• A. R. Shreedharan Elayidom  • P. B. Ashram	P. N. Menon	[21]
1974 (22nd)	Uttarayanam	Pattathuvila Karunakaran	G. Aravindan	[22]
1975 (23rd)	Swapnadanam	T. Mohamed Bapu	K. G. George	[23]
1976 (24th)	Manimuzhakkam	Cartoonist Thomas	P. A. Backer
1977 (25th)	Kodiyettam	Kulathoor Bhaskaran Nair	Adoor Gopalakrishnan	[24]
1978 (26th)	Thampu	K. Ravindran Nair	G. Aravindan	[25]
1979 (27th)	Peruvazhiyambalam	Prem Prakash	Padmarajan
1980 (28th)	Yagam	B. Chandramani Bai	Sivan	[26]
1981 (29th)	Elippathayam	K. Ravindran Nair	Adoor Gopalakrishnan	[27]
1982 (30th)	Chappa	P. K. Abdul Latif	P. A. Backer	[28]
1983 (31st)	Malamukalile Daivam	Surya Mudra Films	P. N. Menon	[29]
1984 (32nd)	Mukhamukham	K. Ravindran Nair	Adoor Gopalakrishnan	[30]
1985 (33rd)	Thinkalaazhcha Nalla Divasam	M. Mani	P. Padmarajan	[31]
1986 (34th)	Uppu	K. M. A. Rahim	V. K. Pavithran	[32]
1987 (35th)	Purushartham	P. T. K. Mohammad	K. R. Mohanan	[33]
1988 (36th)	Rugmini	• S. C. Pillai  • Gigy Abraham	K. P. Kumaran	[34]
1989 (37th)	Mathilukal	Adoor Gopalakrishnan	Adoor Gopalakrishnan	[35]
1990 (38th)	Vasthuhara	T. Ravindranath	G. Aravindan	[36]
1991 (39th)	Kadavu	M. T. Vasudevan Nair	M. T. Vasudevan Nair	[37]
1992 (40th)	Swaroopam	P. T. K. Mohammed	K. R. Mohanan	[38]
1993 (41st)	Vidheyan	K. Ravi	Adoor Gopalakrishnan	[39]
1994 (42nd)	Sukrutham	M. M. Ramachandran	Harikumar	[40]
1995 (43rd)	Ormakalundayirikkanam	Salam Karassery	T. V. Chandran	[41]
1996 (44th)	Desadanam	Jayaraj	Jayaraj	[42]
1997 (45th)	Mangamma	NFDC	T. V. Chandran	[43]
1998 (46th)	Agnisakshi	Srishti Films	Shyamaprasad	[44]
1999 (47th)	Punaradhivasam	N. P. Prakash	V. K. Prakash	[45]
2000 (48th)	Sayanam	M. P. Sukumaran Nair	M. P. Sukumaran Nair	[46]
	Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal	Grihalakshmi Films	Sathyan Anthikad
2001 (49th)	Dany	T. V. Chandran	T. V. Chandran	[47]
2002 (50th)	Nizhalkuthu	Adoor Gopalakrishnan	Adoor Gopalakrishnan	[48]
2003 (51st)	Saphalam	Anil Thomas	Asok R. Nath	[49]
2004 (52nd)	Akale	Tom George Kolath	Shyamaprasad	[50]
2005 (53rd)	Thanmathra	Century Films	Blessy	[51]
2006 (54th)	Drishtantham	M. P. Sukumaran Nair	M. P. Sukumaran Nair	[52]
2007 (55th)	Ore Kadal	Vindhyan N. B.	Shyamaprasad	[53]
2008 (56th)	Thirakkatha	Varnachithra Big Screen	Ranjith	[54]
2009 (57th)	Keralavarma Pazhassiraja	A. M. Gopalan	T. Hariharan	[55]
2010 (58th)	Veettilekkulla Vazhi	B. C. Joshi	Dr. Biju	[56]
2011 (59th)	Indian Rupee	August Cinema	Ranjith	[57]
2012 (60th)	Celluloid	• Kamal  • Ubaid	Kamal	[58]
2013 (61st)	North 24 Kaatham	C. V. Sarathi	Anil Radhakrishnan Menon	[59]
2014 (62nd)	Ain	1:1.3 Entertainments	Sidhartha Siva	[60]
2015 (63rd)	Pathemari	Allens Media	Salim Ahamed	[61]
2016 (64th)	Maheshinte Prathikaaram	Dream Mill Cinemas and Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.	Dileesh Pothan	[62]
2017 (65th)	Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum	Urvasi Theatres	Dileesh Pothan
2018 (66th)	Sudani from Nigeria	Happy Hours Entertainments	Zakariya Mohammed
2019 (67th)	Kalla Nottam	First Print Studio	Rahul Riji Nair	[63]
2020 (68th)	Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam	Pushkar Films	Senna Hegde	[64]
2021 (69th)	Home	Vijay Babu	Rojin Thomas	[65]
2022 (70th)	Saudi Vellakka	Urvashi Theatres	Tharun Moorthy	[66]

References

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External links

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