The National Film Awards have moved beyond Delhi. The shift to Ekta Nagar reflects how India’s cinema, culture and idea of national recognition are changing.
For more than five decades, the National Film Awards followed a familiar ritual. Winners gathered in New Delhi, entered Vigyan Bhawan, received India’s highest cinematic honours from the President, and returned to film centres such as Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi and Kolkata.
The 72nd National Film Awards broke that pattern.
Instead of being held in the national capital, the ceremony took place in Ekta Nagar, Gujarat, near the Statue of Unity. President Droupadi Murmu presented the awards, including the Dadasaheb Phalke Award to veteran actor Anant Nag and joint Best Actor honours to Kartik Aaryan and Mammootty.
A change of venue may appear to be a logistical decision. But in the case of the National Film Awards, geography carries institutional meaning. Moving the ceremony outside Delhi raises a larger question about how India chooses to represent its national culture and whether national recognition needs to remain tied to the administrative capital.
Why Move the National Film Awards Outside Delhi?
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has presented the move as an effort to take national celebrations beyond Delhi. Under the new approach, the National Film Awards are expected to travel to different parts of the country, allowing host states to showcase their landscapes, heritage and cultural identity alongside the achievements of Indian cinema.
The change also challenges an old pattern in which regional film industries travelled to the capital to receive national recognition.
An itinerant awards ceremony reverses that movement. Instead of bringing the country’s cinema community to one central location every year, the national institution takes the ceremony to different parts of India.
That distinction matters in a country where the meaning of Indian cinema has become increasingly regional, multilingual and interconnected.
Indian Cinema Has Already Become Decentralised
The structure of Indian cinema has changed considerably. Hindi cinema remains influential, but it no longer represents the entire national film landscape.
Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, Odia, Santali and other language industries have developed strong audiences and distinctive storytelling traditions. Films from these industries now travel across linguistic and geographical boundaries with much greater ease.
The winners at the 72nd National Film Awards reflected this diversity.
- Cross-regional recognition: Kartik Aaryan won the Best Actor award for Chandu Champion, sharing the honour with Malayalam star Mammootty for Bramayugam.
- A Santali milestone: Angh by Ravi Raj Murmu became the first Santali-language film to receive a National Film Award.
- A wider linguistic canvas: Films and artists from Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Garhwali, Tulu and other regional traditions also featured among the recognised works.
The awards therefore offered a useful snapshot of how Indian cinema itself has moved beyond a single-language or single-industry framework.
If the creative ecosystem is increasingly decentralised, the physical setting of its biggest national celebration can also evolve.
Why Ekta Nagar?
The choice of Ekta Nagar was not simply about finding a new venue.
Formerly known as Kevadia, the Gujarat destination has developed around the Statue of Unity and a broader tourism and infrastructure ecosystem. Its association with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel also gives the location a strong symbolism of national integration.
Placing the National Film Awards there connects cinema with a different visual and cultural geography from the government buildings of New Delhi.
The shift also gives the host state an opportunity to present its tourism infrastructure, heritage and public spaces to a national audience. In that sense, the ceremony becomes more than an awards function. It also becomes a platform for cultural and destination promotion.
What the Shift Could Change
The most visible consequence is greater regional participation.
For filmmakers and audiences outside Delhi, a travelling national ceremony can make the country’s highest cinematic honours feel less distant. It brings nationally recognised artists and institutions into different parts of the country rather than repeatedly concentrating the event in one city.
There are also broader possibilities.
Regional cultural visibility: Hosting the awards in different states can draw national attention to local heritage, landscapes, art forms and cultural institutions.
Tourism and infrastructure: Large national events require transport, accommodation, security and event infrastructure. Host destinations can benefit from the visibility and economic activity generated around them.
Cultural exchange: A travelling ceremony can expose the national film community to different regional settings and encourage greater interaction between India’s diverse film cultures.
A wider model for national events: If the experiment continues successfully, other national cultural institutions could consider similar approaches for major literary, artistic and sporting events.
These possibilities do not automatically guarantee positive outcomes. Organising a large national ceremony outside the capital involves logistical costs, security requirements and questions about accessibility. The long-term value of the model will depend on how consistently different states are represented and whether the change produces meaningful cultural participation rather than simply a change of backdrop.
Final Take
The significance of the 72nd National Film Awards lies partly in this change of perspective.
For years, the ceremony’s connection with Delhi was so established that the location itself seemed almost invisible. Moving it to Ekta Nagar makes the geography of national recognition part of the conversation.
The change also reflects something larger about Indian cinema. The industry no longer moves in a single direction from regional centres towards Mumbai and then towards Delhi for national validation. Stories, audiences, artists and commercial success now move across multiple linguistic and cultural boundaries.
The National Film Awards are consequently entering a new phase. Their travelling format can place different parts of India at the centre of the national cultural conversation, one year at a time.
The red carpet, in other words, does not necessarily have to belong to one city.
It can travel.
For more than five decades, the National Film Awards followed a familiar ritual. Winners gathered in New Delhi, entered Vigyan Bhawan, received India’s highest cinematic honours from the President, and returned to film centres such as Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi and Kolkata.
The 72nd National Film Awards broke that pattern.
Instead of being held in the national capital, the ceremony took place in Ekta Nagar, Gujarat, near the Statue of Unity. President Droupadi Murmu presented the awards, including the Dadasaheb Phalke Award to veteran actor Anant Nag and joint Best Actor honours to Kartik Aaryan and Mammootty.
A change of venue may appear to be a logistical decision. But in the case of the National Film Awards, geography carries institutional meaning. Moving the ceremony outside Delhi raises a larger question about how India chooses to represent its national culture and whether national recognition needs to remain tied to the administrative capital.
Why Move the National Film Awards Outside Delhi?
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has presented the move as an effort to take national celebrations beyond Delhi. Under the new approach, the National Film Awards are expected to travel to different parts of the country, allowing host states to showcase their landscapes, heritage and cultural identity alongside the achievements of Indian cinema.
The change also challenges an old pattern in which regional film industries travelled to the capital to receive national recognition.
An itinerant awards ceremony reverses that movement. Instead of bringing the country’s cinema community to one central location every year, the national institution takes the ceremony to different parts of India.
That distinction matters in a country where the meaning of Indian cinema has become increasingly regional, multilingual and interconnected.
Indian Cinema Has Already Become Decentralised
The structure of Indian cinema has changed considerably. Hindi cinema remains influential, but it no longer represents the entire national film landscape.
Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, Odia, Santali and other language industries have developed strong audiences and distinctive storytelling traditions. Films from these industries now travel across linguistic and geographical boundaries with much greater ease.
The winners at the 72nd National Film Awards reflected this diversity.
- Cross-regional recognition: Kartik Aaryan won the Best Actor award for Chandu Champion, sharing the honour with Malayalam star Mammootty for Bramayugam.
- A Santali milestone: Angh by Ravi Raj Murmu became the first Santali-language film to receive a National Film Award.
- A wider linguistic canvas: Films and artists from Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Garhwali, Tulu and other regional traditions also featured among the recognised works.
The awards therefore offered a useful snapshot of how Indian cinema itself has moved beyond a single-language or single-industry framework.
If the creative ecosystem is increasingly decentralised, the physical setting of its biggest national celebration can also evolve.
Why Ekta Nagar?
The choice of Ekta Nagar was not simply about finding a new venue.
Formerly known as Kevadia, the Gujarat destination has developed around the Statue of Unity and a broader tourism and infrastructure ecosystem. Its association with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel also gives the location a strong symbolism of national integration.
Placing the National Film Awards there connects cinema with a different visual and cultural geography from the government buildings of New Delhi.
The shift also gives the host state an opportunity to present its tourism infrastructure, heritage and public spaces to a national audience. In that sense, the ceremony becomes more than an awards function. It also becomes a platform for cultural and destination promotion.
What the Shift Could Change
The most visible consequence is greater regional participation.
For filmmakers and audiences outside Delhi, a travelling national ceremony can make the country’s highest cinematic honours feel less distant. It brings nationally recognised artists and institutions into different parts of the country rather than repeatedly concentrating the event in one city.
There are also broader possibilities.
Regional cultural visibility: Hosting the awards in different states can draw national attention to local heritage, landscapes, art forms and cultural institutions.
Tourism and infrastructure: Large national events require transport, accommodation, security and event infrastructure. Host destinations can benefit from the visibility and economic activity generated around them.
Cultural exchange: A travelling ceremony can expose the national film community to different regional settings and encourage greater interaction between India’s diverse film cultures.
A wider model for national events: If the experiment continues successfully, other national cultural institutions could consider similar approaches for major literary, artistic and sporting events.
These possibilities do not automatically guarantee positive outcomes. Organising a large national ceremony outside the capital involves logistical costs, security requirements and questions about accessibility. The long-term value of the model will depend on how consistently different states are represented and whether the change produces meaningful cultural participation rather than simply a change of backdrop.
Final Take
The significance of the 72nd National Film Awards lies partly in this change of perspective.
For years, the ceremony’s connection with Delhi was so established that the location itself seemed almost invisible. Moving it to Ekta Nagar makes the geography of national recognition part of the conversation.
The change also reflects something larger about Indian cinema. The industry no longer moves in a single direction from regional centres towards Mumbai and then towards Delhi for national validation. Stories, audiences, artists and commercial success now move across multiple linguistic and cultural boundaries.
The National Film Awards are consequently entering a new phase. Their travelling format can place different parts of India at the centre of the national cultural conversation, one year at a time.
The red carpet, in other words, does not necessarily have to belong to one city.
It can travel.
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