Indian ceremony celebrating cinema of 1968
The 16th National Film Awards , presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in 1968.[1] [2] Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan , New Delhi on 13 February 1970.
With 16th National Film Awards, three new awards were introduced, mainly for Best Film on Family Welfare , Best Child Artist and Best Film Lyric Writer . Moreover, for male and female singers, awards were differentiated with Best Male Playback Singer and Best Female Playback Singer respectively.
Juries
Six different committees were formed based on the film making sectors in India, mainly based in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras along with the award categories. Another committee for all India level was also formed which included some of the members from regional committee. For 16th National Film Awards, central committee was headed by Justice G. D. Khosla.[1]
Jury Members: Central
Jury Members: Documentary
Jury Members: Short Films
Jury Regional: Bombay
Nissim Ezekiel (Chairperson ) • Urmila Kapur • Navin Khandwalla • R. S. Pande • Firoze Rangoonwalla • Bikram Singh • Bal Chhabda • Shatrujit Paul • Buny Talwar • G. P. Shirke
Jury Regional: Calcutta
Jury Regional: Madras
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.
Feature films
Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For 16th National Film Awards, a Bengali film Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne won the President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film , with also winning the maximum number of awards (two); along with two Hindi films , Aashirwad and Saraswatichandra with a Malayalam film , Thulabharam and a Tamil film , Thillaanaa Mohanambal . Following were the awards given in each category:[1]
All India Award
Following were the awards given:[1]
Award
Film
Language
Awardee(s)
Cash Prize
Best Feature Film
Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne
Bengali
Producer : Nepal Dutta
Gold Medal and ₹ 20,000
Producer: Asim Dutta
Director : Satyajit Ray
₹ 5,000 and a plaque
Second Best Feature Film
Thulabharam
Malayalam
Producer: M/s. Supriya Pictures
₹ 5,000 and a medal
Director: A. Vincent
₹ 2,000 and a plaque
Best Film on Family Welfare
Anchal Ke Phool
Hindi
Producer: M. R. Seth
₹ 5,000 and a medal
Director: Karunesh Thakur
₹ 2,000 and a plaque
Best Feature Film on National Integration
Janmabhoomi
Malayalam
Producer: M/s. Roopa Rekha
₹ 5,000 and a medal
Director: John Sankaramangalam
₹ 2,000 and a plaque
Best Children's Film
Heerer Prajapati
Bengali
Producer: Children's Film Society
₹ 7,500 and a medal
Director: Shanti P. Chowdhury
₹ 2,500 and a plaque
Best Actor (Bharat Award)
Aashirwad
Hindi
Ashok Kumar
A figurine
Best Actress (Urvashi Award)
Thulabharam
Malayalam
Sharada
A figurine
Best Child Artist
Kuzhanthaikkaga
Tamil
Baby Rani
A plaque
Best Direction
Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne
Bengali
Satyajit Ray
₹ 5,000 and a plaque
Best Music Direction
Saraswatichandra
Hindi
Kalyanji Anandji
₹ 5,000 and a plaque
Best Male Playback Singer
Mere Huzoor (For the song "Jhanak Jhanak Tori Baaje")
Hindi
Manna Dey
A plaque
Best Female Playback Singer
Uyarndha Manithan
Tamil
P. Susheela
A plaque
Lyric Writer of the Best Film Song on National Integration
Kuzhanthaikkaga (For the song "Devan Vanthaan")
Tamil
Kannadasan
A plaque
Best Screenplay
Anokhi Raat
Hindi
Pandit Anand Kumar
₹ 5,000
Best Cinematography (Black and White )
Saraswatichandra
Hindi
Nariman A. Irani
₹ 5,000 and a plaque
Best Cinematography (Color )
Thillaanaa Mohanambal
Tamil
K. S. Prasad
₹ 5,000 and a plaque
Regional Award
The awards were given to the best films made in the regional languages of India . For feature films in Assamese , English , Gujarati , Kashmiri and Punjabi language , President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film was not given. The producer and director of the film were awarded with ₹ 5,000 and a Silver medal, respectively.[1]
Non-Feature films
Following were the awards given:[1]
Short films
Award
Film
Language
Awardee(s)
Cash Prize
Best Information Film (Documentary)
Everest
English
Producer: Arun Chowdhury for Films Division
₹ 5,000 and a medal
Director: N. S. Thapa
₹ 2,000 and a plaque
Best Educational / Instructional Film
Forest and The Man
English
Producer: K. L. Khandpur for Films Division
₹ 5,000 and a medal
Director: Neil Gokhale
₹ 2,000 and a plaque
Director: P. B. Pendharkar
Best Film on Social Documentation
Water
English
Producer: M/s. Fali Billmoria Productions
₹ 5,000 and a medal
Director: Fali Billmoria
₹ 2,000 and a plaque
Best Experimental Film
And I Make Short Films
English
Producer: K. L. Khandpur for Films Division
₹ 5,000 and a medal
Director: S. N. S. Sastry
₹ 2,000 and a plaque
Best Animation Film
Nag Aur Kauwa
Hindi
Producer: Children's Film Society
₹ 5,000 and a medal
Director: S. B. Nayampally
₹ 2,000 and a plaque
Awards not given
Following were the awards not given as no film was found to be suitable for the award:[1]
References
External links
Lifetime Achievement Feature Films
Golden Lotus Awards Silver Lotus Awards
Silver Lotus Awards (Regional)
Discontinued Awards
Non-Feature Films
Golden Lotus Awards Silver Lotus Awards
Discontinued Awards
Writing on Cinema
Golden Lotus Awards Special Awards
Awards by year
1953–1960 1961–1980 1981–2000 2001–2020 2021–present