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]
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.
The awards were given to the best films made in the regional languages of India. For feature films in English, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Meitei, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi and Telugu language, President's silver medal for Best Feature Film was not given. The producer of the film was awarded with a silver medal and ₹10,000, the director of the film was awarded with a silver medal and ₹5,000, and leading actors were awarded with a souvenir.[1]