63rd National Film Awards
The 63rd National Film Awards was an award ceremony during which the Directorate of Film Festivals of India presented its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2015 in Indian cinema. The awards were announced on 28 March 2016 and the ceremony was held on 3 May 2016.
Selection process
The Directorate of Film Festivals invited nominations for the awards in January 2016. The acceptable last date for entries was until 13 January 2016. Feature and Non-Feature Films certified by Central Board of Film Certification between 1 January 2015, and 31 December 2015, were eligible for the film award categories. Books, critical studies, reviews or articles on cinema published in Indian newspapers, magazines, and journals between 1 January 2015, and 31 December 2015, were eligible for the best writing on cinema section. Entries of dubbed, revised or copied versions of a film or translation, abridgements, edited or annotated works and reprints were ineligible for the awards.For the Feature and Non-Feature Films sections, films in any Indian language, shot on 16 mm, 35 mm, a wider film gauge or a digital format, and released in cinemas, on video or digital formats for home viewing were eligible. Films were required to be certified as a feature film, a featurette or a Documentary/Newsreel/Non-Fiction by the Central Board of Film Certification.
Best Film Friendly State
The awards aim at encouraging study and appreciation of cinema as an art form and dissemination of information and critical appreciation of this art-form through a State Government Policy.| Award | Name of State | Citation |
| Best Film Friendly State | State of Gujarat | Film Policy for Promotion of Gujarati Cinema. |
Dadasaheb Phalke Award
Introduced in 1969, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award is the highest award given to recognise the contributions of film personalities towards the development of Indian cinema and for distinguished contributions to the medium, its growth and promotion.A committee consisting five eminent personalities from Indian film industry was appointed to evaluate the lifetime achievement award, Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Following were the jury members.
- Jury Members
Feature Films
Juries
A committee headed by Ramesh Sippy was appointed to evaluate the feature films awards. Following were the jury members:- Jury Members
- * Ramesh Sippy Gangai AmaranSandip DattaJohn Matthew MatthanDharam GulatiGyan SahayS. R. LeelaK. VasuSatish KaushikShyamaprasadMunin Barua
All India Award
Golden Lotus Award
Official Name: Swarna KamalAll the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award ', a certificate and cash prize.
| Name of Award | Name of Film | Language | Awardee | Cash Prize |
| Best Feature Film | Telugu | Producer: Shobu Yarlagadda & Arka Media Works LTD. Director: S. S. Rajamouli | 250,000/- Each | |
| Best Debut Film of a Director | Masaan | Hindi | Producer: Phantom Films Director: Neeraj Ghaywan | 1,25,000/- Each |
| Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment | Bajrangi Bhaijaan | Hindi | Producer: Salman Khan & Rockline Venkatesh Director: Kabir Khan | 200,000/- Each |
| Best Children's Film | Duronto | Hindi | Producer: Code Red Films Director: Soumnedra Padhi | 150,000/- Each |
| Best Direction | Bajirao Mastani | Hindi | Sanjay Leela Bhansali | 250,000/- |
Silver Lotus Award
Official Name: Rajat KamalAll the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award ', a certificate and cash prize.
| Name of Award | Name of Film | Language | Awardee | Cash Prize |
| Best Feature Film on National Integration | Nanak Shah Fakir | Punjabi | Producer: Gurbani Media Director: | 150,000/- Each for |
| Best Film on Other Social Issues | Nirnayakam | Malayalam | Producer: Jayraj Films Director: V. K. Prakash | 150,000/- Each |
| Best Film on Environment/Conservation/Preservation | Valiya Chirakulla Pakshikal | Malayalam | Producer: Dr. A. K. Pillai Director: Dr. Biju | 150,000/- Each |
| Best Actor | Piku | Hindi | Amitabh Bachchan | 50,000/- |
| Best Actress | Tanu Weds Manu Returns | Hindi | Kangana Ranaut | 50,000/- |
| Best Supporting Actor | Visaranai | Tamil | Samuthirakani | 50,000/- |
| Best Supporting Actress | Bajirao Mastani | Hindi | Tanvi Azmi | 50,000/- |
| Best Child Artist | Ben | Malayalam | Gaurav Menon | 50,000/- |
| Best Male Playback Singer | Katyar Kaljat Ghusali | Marathi | Mahesh Kale | 50,000/- |
| Best Female Playback Singer | Dum Laga Ke Haisha | Hindi | Monali Thakur | 50,000/- |
| Best Cinematography | Bajirao Mastani | Hindi | Sudeep Chatterjee | 50,000/- |
| Best Screenplay Screenplay Writer | Piku | Hindi | Juhi Chaturvedi | 50,000/- |
| Best Screenplay Screenplay Writer | Tanu Weds Manu Returns | Hindi | Himanshu Sharma | 50,000/- |
| Best Screenplay Screenplay Writer | Talvar | Hindi | Vishal Bhardwaj | 50,000/- |
| Best Screenplay Dialogues | Piku | Hindi | Juhi Chaturvedi | 50,000/- |
| Best Screenplay Dialogues | Tanu Weds Manu Returns | Hindi | Himanshu Sharma | 50,000/- |
| Best Audiography Location Sound Recordist | Talvar | Hindi | Sanjay Kurian | 50,000/- |
| Best Audiography Sound Designer | Bajirao Mastani | Hindi | Biswadeep Chatterjee | 50,000/- |
| Best Audiography Re-recordist of the Final Mixed Track | Bajirao Mastani | Hindi | Justin Jose | 50,000/- |
| Best Editing | Visaranai | Tamil | Kishore Te | 50,000/- |
| Best Art Direction | Bajirao Mastani | Hindi | Shriram Iyengar Saloni Dhatrak Sujeet Sawant | 50,000/- |
| Best Costume Design | Nanak Shah Fakir | Punjabi | Payal Saluja | 50,000/- |
| Best Make-up Artist | Nanak Shah Fakir | Punjabi | Preetisheel Singh Clover Wootton | 50,000/- |
| Best Music Direction Songs | Ennu Ninte Moideen | Malayalam | M. Jayachandran | 50,000/- |
| Best Music Direction Background Score | Tharai Thappattai | Tamil | Ilaiyaraaja | 50,000/- |
| Best Lyrics | Dum Laga Ke Haisha | Hindi | Varun Grover | 50,000/- |
| Best Special Effects | Telugu | V. Srinivas Mohan | 50,000/- | |
| Best Choreography | Bajirao Mastani | Hindi | Remo D'Souza | 50,000/- |
| Special Jury Award | Margarita with a Straw | Hindi | Kalki Koechlin | 200,000/- |
| Special Mention | Sairat | Marathi | Rinku Rajguru | Certificate only |
| Special Mention | Su Su Sudhi Vathmeekam Lukka Chuppi | Malayalam | Jayasurya | Certificate only |
| Special Mention | Irudhi Suttru | Tamil | Ritika Singh | Certificate only |
Regional Awards
The award is given to best film in the regional languages in India.Best Feature Film in Each of the Language Other Than Those Specified In the Schedule VIII of the Constitution
Non-Feature Films
Short Films made in any Indian language and certified by the Central Board of Film Certification as a documentary/newsreel/fiction are eligible for non-feature film section.Golden Lotus Award
Official Name: Swarna KamalAll the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award ', a certificate and cash prize.
| Name of Award | Name of Film | Language | Awardee | Cash Prize |
| Best Non-Feature Film | Amdavad Ma Famous | Gujrati | Producer: Akanksha Tewari & Arya A. Menon Director: Hardik Mehta | 100,000/- Each |
| Best Non-Feature Film Direction | Kamuki | Malayalam | Producer: Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute Director: Christo Tomy | 50,000/- Each |
Silver Lotus Award
Official Name: Rajat KamalAll the Awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award ' and cash prize.
| Name of Award | Name of Film | Language | Awardee | Cash Prize |
| Best First Non-Feature Film | Daaravtha | Marathi | Producer: Nishantroy Bombarde Director: Nishantroy Bombarde | 50,000/- Each |
| Best Anthropological / Ethnographic Film | Aoleang | English | Producer: Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Stuidies Director: Ranajit Ray Assistant Director – Goutam Sharma | 50,000/- Each |
| Best Biographical Film / Best Historical Reconstruction / Compilation Film | Life in Metaphors: A Portrait of Girish Kasaravalli | English And Kannada | Producer: Reelism Film Director: O.P. Shrivastava | 50,000/- Each |
| Best Arts / Cultural Film | A Far Afternoon – A Painted Saga Yazhpanam Thedchanamoorthy – Music Beyond Boundaries | Hindi, English Tamil | Producer: Piramal Art Foundation Director: Sruti Harihara Subramanian Producer: Siddhartha Productions Director: Amshan Kumar | 50,000/- Each |
| Best Environment Film including Best Agricultural Film | The Man who Dwarfed the Mountains God On The Edge | Hindi,English English, Bengali | Producer:Rajiv Mehrotra, PSBT Director: Ruchi Shrivastava & Sumit Sunderlal Khanna Producer:Elements Picture Studio Director:Ashok Patel | 50,000/- Each |
| Best Promotional Film | Weaves of Maheshwar | Hindi, English | Producer: Storyloom Films Director:Keya Vaswani & Nidhi Kamath | 50,000/- Each |
| Best Film on Social Issues | Auto Driver | Manipuri | Producer: Oinam Doren, Longjam Meena Devi Director: Longjam Meena Devi | 50,000/- Each |
| Best Educational / Motivational / Instructional Film | Paywat | Marathi | Producer: Mithunchandra Chaudhari Director: Nayana Dolas & Mithunchandra Chaudhari | 50,000/- Each |
| Best Exploration / Adventure Film | Dribbling with their Future | English, Tamil & Kannada | Producer: N. Dinesh Raj Kumar & Mathew Varghese Director: Jacob Varghese | 50,000/- Each |
| Best Investigative Film | Tezpur 1962 | English | Producer: Films Division of India Director: Samujjal Kashyap | 50,000/- Each |
| Best Animation Film | Fisherwoman and TukTuk | No Dialogues | Producer: Nilima Eriyat Director: Suresh Eriyat Animator: Studio Eeksaurus Productions Private Limited | 50,000/- Each |
| Best Short Fiction Film | Aushadh | Marathi | Producer: Amol Deshmukh Director: Amol Deshmukh | 50,000/- Each |
| Best Film on Family Welfare | Best Friends Forever | English | Producer: Syed Sultan Ahmed Director: Sandeep Modi | 50,000/- Each |
| Best Cinematography | Benaras- The Unexplored Attachments | Bengali | Cameraman: Amartya Bhattacharyya Laboratory Processing: | 50,000/- Each |
| Best Audiography | Edpa Kana | Kudukh | Moumita Roy | 50,000/- |
| Best Editing | Breaking Free | English | Parvin Angre and Sridhar Rangayan | 50,000/- |
| Best Music Direction | A Far Afternoon- A Painted Saga | Hindi, English | Aravind – Shankar | 50,000/- |
| Special Jury Award | In Search Of Fading Canvas | Hindi | Producer: Films Division Director: Manohar Singh Bisht | 50,000/- Each |
| Special Mention | The Chameleone | English | Arun Shankar | Certificate only |
| Special Mention | Amma | Malayalam | Neelan | Certificate only |
| Special Mention | Syaahi | Marathi | Varun Tandon | Certificate only |
Best Writing on Cinema
The awards aim at encouraging study and appreciation of cinema as an art form and dissemination of information and critical appreciation of this art-form through publication of books, articles, reviews etc.Golden Lotus Award
Official Name: Swarna KamalAll the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award ' and cash prize.
| Name of Award | Name of Book | Language | Awardee | Cash Prize |
| Best Book on Cinema | Dr. Rajkumar Samagra Charithre | Kannada | Author: Doddahulluru Rukkoji Publisher: Preeti Pustaka Prakashana | 75,000/- Each |
| Best Film Critic | Manipuri | Meghachandra Kongbam | 75,000/- | |
| Special Mention | Forgotten Masters of Hindi Cinema | Author: Satish Chopra | Certificate Only |