71st National Film Award: Winners, Ceremony Highlights, When And Where To Watch – Full Star-Studded Celebration Revealed

The ceremony of the National Film Awards for the seventy-first year will be the exposition of merit, accentuating the best of Indian cinema, and is to be held on September 23, 2025, at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. On this auspicious occasion, President Droupadi Murmu will grace the awards ceremony as the award bestower and hence gives the event a highly significant flavor. The dates for the films that earned awards would fall under 2023.

The ceremony will be available for viewing on the official DD News YouTube channel, where red carpet coverage will begin at 3 PM before the ceremony starts at 4 PM. The occasion stemmed from a plethora of selections where 332 feature film entries in itself were proof of the rich and diverse landscape of Indian cinema.

Key Winners and Highlights

The evening of August 1, 2025, saw the announcement of the winners, and names that found importance in the cinema started trending. Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s critically-acclaimed 12th Fail won the awards for the Best Feature Film. Lead actor of the film, Vikrant Massey, bagged the Best Actor Award, sharing it with Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan for his performance in Jawan.

Another exceptional winner is Rani Mukerji, who was awarded the Best Actress award for her performance in Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway. The award ceremony will also be special for veteran actor Mohanlal, who will be gracing it with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award-the topmost award in India. Sudipto Sen won the Best Direction category for The Kerala Story, which also bagged the Best Cinematography award.

Revealing the Cinematic Masterpiece

The honors acknowledge talent in a broad spectrum, ranging from acting to technical categories, in a multitude of languages. The Best Hindi Film went to the offbeat satire Kathal – A Jackfruit Mystery. Other notable wins are Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, and Sam Bahadur which took home Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social, and Environmental Values.

The ceremony honors not just the stars but also illuminates the wonderful work done behind the camera-from sound to camera work-in acknowledgement of that collaborative effort that goes into the making of a film classic. In India, it is a tribute to a grand cultural heritage and cinematic craftsmanship, forever immortal.

Also Read: Chiranjeevi dedicates 47 years of cinematic journey to fans, Pawan Kalyan calls him “fighter by birth”