21st National Film Awards
| 21st National Film Awards | |
|---|---|
21st National Film Awards
|
|
| Awarded for | Best of Indian cinema in 1973 |
| Awarded by | Prime Minister of India (Indira Gandhi) |
| Presented by | Directorate of Film Festivals |
| Presented on | October 1974 |
| Official website | dff.nic.in |
| Highlights | |
| Best Feature Film | Nirmalyam |
| Most awards | Ashani Sanket and Kaadu (3) |
The 21st National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organization set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1973.[1][2] Ceremony took place in October, 1974 and awards were given by then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi.
Contents
Juries
Prior to 21st National Film Awards, there used to be regional committees at Bombay (Mumbai), Calcutta (Kolkata) and Madras (Chennai), the recommendations of which were then considered by central committee. To avoid this long-winded process, regional committees were discarded.
Two different committees were formed for feature films and short films, headed by Romesh Thapar and S. K. Kooka respectively.[1][2]
- Jury Members: Feature Films
- Romesh Thapar (Chairperson) • Usha Bhagat • Teji Bachchan • Ismat Chughtai • M. Yunus Dehlvi • Ashis Burman
- Firoze Rangoonwalla • Dina Pathak • B. V. Karanth • T. S. Pillai • T. K. Mahadevan • J. Swaminathan
- Dileep Padgaonkar • Subodh Mukherjee • U. Visweswar Raw • Asim Paul • Tarun Majumdar • Ananta Patnaik
- Illindula Saraswathi Devi • M. Bhaktavatsala • Sai Paranjpye • K. R. K. Menon • O. V. Vijayan
- Jury Members: Short Films
- S. K. Kooka (Chairperson) • Balwant Gargi • Nalni Soni • Komal Kothari
Awards
Awards were divided into feature films and non-feature films.
President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film is now better known as National Film Award for Best Feature Film, whereas President's Gold Medal for the Best Documentary Film is analogous to today's National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film. For children's films, Prime Minister's Gold Medal is now given as National Film Award for Best Children's Film. At the regional level, President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film is now given as National Film Award for Best Feature Film in a particular language. Certificate of Merit in all the categories is discontinued over the years.
Lifetime Achievement Award
| Name of Award | Awardee(s) | Awarded As | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dadasaheb Phalke Award | Ruby Myers (Sulochana) | Actress | ₹20,000, a Gold medal and a shawl |
Feature films
Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For 21st National Film Awards, a Malayalam film Nirmalyam won the President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film; whereas a Bengali film Ashani Sanket and a Kannada film Kaadu won the maximum number of awards (three). Following were the awards given in each category:[1][2]
All India Award
Following were the awards given:[1][2]
Regional Award
The awards were given to the best films made in the regional languages of India. For feature films in English, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Manipuri, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi and Telugu language, President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film was not given.[1][2]
| Name of Award | Name of Film | Awardee(s) | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Feature Film in Assamese | Mamta | Producer: Nalin Dowerah, Prafulla Dutta and Shiba Thakur | Silver Medal and ₹10,000 |
| Director: Nalin Dowerah | Silver Medal and ₹5,000 | ||
| Actress: Eva Achow and Actor: Rudra Baruah | Souvenir | ||
| Best Feature Film in Bengali | Ashani Sanket | Producer: Sarbeni Bhattacharya | Silver Medal and ₹10,000 |
| Director: Satyajit Ray | Silver Medal and ₹5,000 | ||
| Actress: Bobita and Actor: Soumitra Chatterjee | Souvenir | ||
| Best Feature Film in Hindi | 27 Down | Producer and Director: (Late) Awatar Krishna Kaul | Silver Medal and ₹10,000 |
| Actress: Raakhee and Actor: M. K. Raina | Souvenir | ||
| Best Feature Film in Kannada | Abachurine Post Office | Producer: Patre C. Vinayak | Silver Medal and ₹10,000 |
| Director: N. Lakshminarayan | Silver Medal and ₹5,000 | ||
| Actress: Girija and Actor: B. N. Narayan | Souvenir | ||
| Best Feature Film in Malayalam | Gayathri | Producer: A. R. Shreedharan Elayidom and P. B. Ashram | Silver Medal and ₹10,000 |
| Director: P. N. Menon | Silver Medal and ₹5,000 | ||
| Actress: Jayabharathi and Actor: V. Raghavan | Souvenir | ||
| Best Feature Film in Tamil | Dikkatra Parvathi | Producer: M/s Navatarang | Silver Medal and ₹10,000 |
| Director: Singeetam Srinivasa Rao | ₹5,000 and Silver Medal | ||
| Actress: Lakshmi and Actor: Sreekanth | Souvenir |
Non-Feature films
Following were the awards given:[1][2]
Short films and Documentaries
| Name of Award | Name of Film | Language | Awardee(s) | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Information Film (Documentary) | The Flame Burns Bright | English | Producer and Director: Ashish Mukherjee | Silver Medal and ₹5,000 |
| Best Educational / Instructional Film | Sath Kutch Na Jayega | Hindi | Producer and Director: Dhiru Mistry and Sureshwar Singh | Silver Medal and ₹5,000 |
| Best Film on Social Documentation | Land of Krishna | English | Producer and Director: G. L. Bhardwaj | Silver Medal and ₹5,000 |
| Best Promotional Film (Commercial) | Delhi the City Beautiful | English | Producer and Director: Jagdish Banerjee | Silver Medal |
| Best Promotional Film (Non-Commercial) | Fibre The Fabric of Life | English | Producer: Khadi and Village Industries Commission Director: G. L. Bhardwaj |
Silver Medal |
| Best Experimental Film | Homi Bhabha - A Scientist in Action | English | Producer: Jagat Murari | Silver Medal and ₹5,000 |
| Director: K. Vishwanath | Silver Medal and ₹4,000 |
Awards not given
Following were the awards not given as no film was found to be suitable for the award:[1][2]
