The biggest winners at the 72nd National Film Awards weren't the biggest box-office hits. Has Indian cinema begun rewarding substance over spectacle?
Every year, the National Film Awards follow a familiar pattern. The winners are announced, congratulatory messages pour in, and the news cycle moves on within a day. Yet the 72nd National Film Awards deserve a closer look because they reveal a trend that India's mainstream film industry may find difficult to ignore.
The biggest honours this year did not go to the films that dominated the box office or social media. Instead, they recognised stories that tackled complex, challenging subjects often considered too risky by commercial studios.
The clearest example is Article 370, which won Best Feature Film, while Yami Gautam received the Best Actress award for her performance. The film was neither a franchise nor a large-scale commercial spectacle driven by star power. It was a political drama centred on one of the most debated decisions in contemporary Indian history. Made without the assurance of a blockbuster opening weekend, its success at the National Film Awards suggests that juries continue to value bold storytelling over commercial formulas.
The Best Actor category reinforced the same message. Mammootty and Kartik Aaryan shared the award for Bramayugam and Chandu Champion, respectively. Neither performance relied on the conventional image of a mainstream Hindi film hero. Bramayugam explored folklore and moral ambiguity through a haunting Malayalam period drama, while Chandu Champion portrayed the inspiring true story of a forgotten wrestler, demanding a remarkable physical and emotional transformation from its lead actor. Both performances stood out because the actors immersed themselves completely in their characters rather than depending on familiar screen personas.
A closer look at the winners reveals the same pattern across categories. Rajkumar Periasamy won Best Director for the Tamil war drama Amaran, ahead of any Hindi-language contender. The Best Supporting Actress award was shared by performances from the Tamil thriller Maharaja and the Kannada film Mithya, which also won Best Kannada Film. Sanjay Mishra received Best Supporting Actor for Bhakshak, a film inspired by the work of an investigative journalist uncovering crimes in a shelter home, rather than for a mainstream commercial production.
This trend is not unique to a single year. It reflects a growing divide between what Bollywood's marketing machinery promotes as a "big film" and what the National Film Awards recognise as outstanding cinema.
Commercial entertainers were not ignored altogether. Pushpa: The Rule Part 2 won Best Original Screenplay and Best Costume Design, Stree 2 received Best Choreography, and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 earned Best Sound Design. However, these honours largely acknowledge technical excellence and craftsmanship rather than recognising a film's overall artistic achievement. The distinction is significant. Large-scale commercial films are being celebrated for execution, while more challenging, content-driven films are being rewarded for vision and storytelling.
The awards also highlighted the growing strength of regional cinema. Srikanth was recognised as Best Hindi Film, while Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada cinema secured major honours through Raayan, Committee Kurrollu, Feminichi Fathima, and Mithya, respectively. These industries are no longer operating in Bollywood's shadow. They are consistently producing films that compete on equal terms and increasingly define the national conversation around quality filmmaking.
For audiences, the message is clear. A film's absence from massive promotional campaigns or social media trends should no longer be mistaken for a lack of quality. Some of the year's finest films came from modestly marketed productions that chose meaningful storytelling over commercial spectacle.
For the industry, the takeaway is more challenging. National recognition is increasingly going to films that embrace substance, originality and creative risk, while many of the biggest commercial successes are being acknowledged primarily for technical excellence. Whether that gap narrows or widens will depend on the choices filmmakers and studios make in the years ahead.
The winners will receive their honours at the 72nd National Film Awards ceremony in September. This year's awards were decided by three separate juries headed by Jayaraj, Aseem Sinha, and A. Chandrasekhar, reflecting a broad evaluation of cinematic excellence across languages and genres.
Every year, the National Film Awards follow a familiar pattern. The winners are announced, congratulatory messages pour in, and the news cycle moves on within a day. Yet the 72nd National Film Awards deserve a closer look because they reveal a trend that India's mainstream film industry may find difficult to ignore.
The biggest honours this year did not go to the films that dominated the box office or social media. Instead, they recognised stories that tackled complex, challenging subjects often considered too risky by commercial studios.
The clearest example is Article 370, which won Best Feature Film, while Yami Gautam received the Best Actress award for her performance. The film was neither a franchise nor a large-scale commercial spectacle driven by star power. It was a political drama centred on one of the most debated decisions in contemporary Indian history. Made without the assurance of a blockbuster opening weekend, its success at the National Film Awards suggests that juries continue to value bold storytelling over commercial formulas.
The Best Actor category reinforced the same message. Mammootty and Kartik Aaryan shared the award for Bramayugam and Chandu Champion, respectively. Neither performance relied on the conventional image of a mainstream Hindi film hero. Bramayugam explored folklore and moral ambiguity through a haunting Malayalam period drama, while Chandu Champion portrayed the inspiring true story of a forgotten wrestler, demanding a remarkable physical and emotional transformation from its lead actor. Both performances stood out because the actors immersed themselves completely in their characters rather than depending on familiar screen personas.
A closer look at the winners reveals the same pattern across categories. Rajkumar Periasamy won Best Director for the Tamil war drama Amaran, ahead of any Hindi-language contender. The Best Supporting Actress award was shared by performances from the Tamil thriller Maharaja and the Kannada film Mithya, which also won Best Kannada Film. Sanjay Mishra received Best Supporting Actor for Bhakshak, a film inspired by the work of an investigative journalist uncovering crimes in a shelter home, rather than for a mainstream commercial production.
This trend is not unique to a single year. It reflects a growing divide between what Bollywood's marketing machinery promotes as a "big film" and what the National Film Awards recognise as outstanding cinema.
Commercial entertainers were not ignored altogether. Pushpa: The Rule Part 2 won Best Original Screenplay and Best Costume Design, Stree 2 received Best Choreography, and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 earned Best Sound Design. However, these honours largely acknowledge technical excellence and craftsmanship rather than recognising a film's overall artistic achievement. The distinction is significant. Large-scale commercial films are being celebrated for execution, while more challenging, content-driven films are being rewarded for vision and storytelling.
The awards also highlighted the growing strength of regional cinema. Srikanth was recognised as Best Hindi Film, while Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada cinema secured major honours through Raayan, Committee Kurrollu, Feminichi Fathima, and Mithya, respectively. These industries are no longer operating in Bollywood's shadow. They are consistently producing films that compete on equal terms and increasingly define the national conversation around quality filmmaking.
For audiences, the message is clear. A film's absence from massive promotional campaigns or social media trends should no longer be mistaken for a lack of quality. Some of the year's finest films came from modestly marketed productions that chose meaningful storytelling over commercial spectacle.
For the industry, the takeaway is more challenging. National recognition is increasingly going to films that embrace substance, originality and creative risk, while many of the biggest commercial successes are being acknowledged primarily for technical excellence. Whether that gap narrows or widens will depend on the choices filmmakers and studios make in the years ahead.
The winners will receive their honours at the 72nd National Film Awards ceremony in September. This year's awards were decided by three separate juries headed by Jayaraj, Aseem Sinha, and A. Chandrasekhar, reflecting a broad evaluation of cinematic excellence across languages and genres.
Leave a Comment