President Ram Nath Kovind on May 3, 2018 presented the 65th National Film Awards at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.
However, this year, controversy engulfed the National Film Awards as more than 60 awardees boycotted the ceremony. In a historic first, the President of India presented the National Film Awards to just 11 of the 137 winners; remaining awards were handed over by the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Smriti Irani and MoS Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.
The awardees were informed at the last minute that the President will present only 11 awards. Over 60 awardees signed a letter of protest addressed to the Directorate of Film Festivals, expressing their disappointment at the way the announcement was made.
The President felicitated the winners in top categories such as the Dadasaheb Phalke Award to Vinod Khanna, Best Actress Award to Sridevi, Best Playback Singer Male to KJ Yesudas, Best Actor Award to Riddhi Sen and Best Music Director Award to AR Rahman.
In the history of the awards, it was for the first time that the President attended only the second half of the ceremony, honouring only a few of the winners. For 64 years, the President has been handing over the National Film Awards to all the recipients.
When were the awards announced?
The 65th National Film Awards were announced on April 13, 2017 by the jury headed by renowned filmmaker Shekhar Kapur.
The other members of the jury panel are screenwriter Imtiaz Hussain, lyricist Mehboob, South Indian actress Gautami Tadimalla, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, Kannada director P Sheshadri, Ranjit Das, Rajesh Mapuskar, Rumi Jaffrey and Tripurari Sharma.
Key Highlights
• This year, Amit V Masurkar's ‘Newton’ movie won the Best Hindi language film award, while Pankaj Tripathi received a special mention for his performance in the same film.
• Ganesh Acharya won the award for Best Choreography for the song ‘Goli Tu Lath maar’ in ‘Toilet Ek Prem Katha’.
• The movie ‘Baahubali: The Conclusion’ by SS Rajamouli won in three categories- Best Action Direction, Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and Best Special Effects.
• Sridevi was posthumously awarded with the Best Actress award for her movie ‘Mom’ and the Dada Saheb Phalke Award went to late veteran actor Vinod Khanna, who died on April 2, 2017.
List of awardees
| Awards | Winners |
| Best Feature Film | Village Rockstar (Assamese) |
| Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director | Sinjar |
| Best Film on social issue | Aalorukkam |
| Best Children's Film | Mhorkya |
| Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment | Baahubali 2: The Conclusion |
| Best Director | Jayaraj for Bhayanakam |
| Best Actor |
Riddhi Sen for Nagarkirtan |
| Best Actress | Sridevi for Mom |
| Best Supporting Actor | Fahad Faasil for Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum |
| Best Supporting Actress | Divya Dutta for Irada |
| Best Child Artist | Neeta Das for Village Rockstar |
| Best Male Playback Singer | Yesudas |
| Best Regional Film | Ladhakh |
| Best Jasari Film | Sinjar |
| Best Tulu Film | Paddayi |
| Best Tamil Film | To Let |
| Best Gujarati Film | Dhh |
| Best Telugu Film | Ghazi |
| Best Marathi Film | Kaccha Limbu |
| Best Malayalam Film | Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum |
| Best Kannada Film | Hebbettu Ramakka |
| Best Hindi Film | Newton |
| Best Bengal Film | Mayurakshi |
| Best Assamese Film | Ishu |
| Best Special Effects | Baahubali 2: The Conclusion |
| Best Music Direction | AR Rahman for Kaatru Veliyidai |
| Best Film on Environment Conservation/ Preservation | Irada |
| Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration | Dhappa |
| Dada Saheb Phalke Award | Vinod Khanna |
| Special Mentions | Pankaj Tripathi (Newton), Parvathy (Take Off), Prakruti Mishra (Hello Arsi), Yasharaj Karhade (Mhorkya) |
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