Mammootty, Kartik Aaryan share top acting honour; Yami Gautam wins Best Actress

The winners of the 72nd National Film Awards were announced in New Delhi on Saturday, July 18, 2026, recognising outstanding films, performances and technical achievements from Indian cinema.
Veteran actor Mammootty and Kartik Aaryan shared the Best Actor award, while Yami Gautam won the Best Actress award.
The awards honoured films certified by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) between January 1 and December 31. An 11-member jury headed by filmmaker Jayaraj selected the winners from entries submitted across various Indian film industries.
Best Actor: Mammootty and Kartik Aaryan
Best Actress: Yami Gautam
Best Screenplay (Adapted): Yogesh Deshpande for Swargandharva Sudhir Phadke (Marathi)
Best Screenplay Dialogue: Venky Atluri for Lucky Bhaskhar
Best Sound Design: Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 — Manas Choudhary
Best Production Designer: Kalki: 2898 AD — Nitin Zihani Choudhary
Best Costume Designer: Pushpa: The Rule (Part 2) — Deepali Noor and Sheetal Sharma
Best Make Up Artist: Committee Kurrollu — P Ravi Kumar
Best Music Director: Article 370 — Shashwat Sachdev
Best Music Direction: Amaran — GV Prakash Kumar
Best Lyrics: Manoj Muntashir for Jaane Do from Maidaan
Best Choreography: Stree 2 — Vijay Ganguly
Best Action Direction: Maharaja — Anl Arasu
Best Assamese Film: Juiphool — Jadumoni Dutta
Best Bengali Film: Chalchitra Ekhon — Anjan Dutt
Best Gujarati Film: Maaran — Abhishek Jain
Best Hindi Film: Srikanth
Best Kannada Film: Mithya — Sumanth Bhat
Best Konkani Film: Mog Asum
Best Malayalam Film: Feminichi Fathima — Fasil Muhammed
Best Manipuri Film: Sunita — Yumnam Ajit Singh
Best Marathi Film: Mukkam Post Bombilwadi — Paresh Mokashi
Best Odia Film: Lahari — Amartya Bhattacharyya
Best Tamil Film: Raayan — Dhanush
Best Telugu Film: Committee Kurrollu — Yadhu Vamsee
Best Garhwali Film: Dholi — Dinesh P Bhonsle
Best Tulu Film: IMBU — Shivdhwaj Studio
Best Non-Feature Film promoting Social and Environmental Values: Piplantri: A Tale of Eco Feminism — Suraj Kumar
Best Animation Film: Touched as Water — Joshy Benedict
Best Short Film: Hamsafar
Best Direction: Anand L Rai for Statue of Unity: Ekta Ka Prateek
Best Cinematography: Life in Loom — Edmond Ranson
Best Sound Design: Blue — TS Hari Hara Sudhan
Best Editing: NDA — Manvir Jasrotia
Best Music Direction: Parat 41°chya Magavar (On the Trail of 41°) — Shivpal Singh Kang
Best Narrator: Little Planet: A Tale of Frogs — Soundarya Jayachandran
Best Script: Obur (Clouds) — Faraz Ali
Captain Miller — Dhanush
Meiyazhagan
Chola Dora aur Sui — Jaymin Modi and Lokesh Ghai
Bhadra-Kali Natakam — Ananda Jyothi
The 72nd National Film Awards featured entries from across India, with 161 films in 24 languages competing in 16 non-feature categories.