Indian cinema is preparing to celebrate its national honors while also, symbolically, shifting its center of gravity. On September 22, 2026, President Droupadi Murmu will present the 72nd National Film Awards in Ekta Nagar, Gujarat. Under a new strategy, the ceremony is leaving the capital and is expected to travel to different cities and states in future editions.
The winners, announced on July 18, recognize films certified in 2024. Article 370 will receive Best Feature Film and Yami Gautam will be honored as Best Actress. Mammootty, for Bramayugam, and Kartik Aaryan, for Chandu Champion, will share Best Actor. Rajkumar Periasamy wins Best Direction for the Tamil film Amaran, while Kalki 2898 AD was selected as Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.
Leaving Delhi is more than a change of scenery
India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting describes the move as an initiative that will take the awards to other states and cities. The decision acknowledges a longstanding reality: Indian cinema is not one industry organized around a single center, but a network of markets, languages, studios and production cultures.
Staging the awards in Ekta Nagar therefore expands the geography of official recognition. The event remains national, but its location is no longer neutral. It suggests that cultural representation can also operate through infrastructure, professional travel and media attention directed toward a region. A ceremony brings crews, partners, journalists and audiences with it, temporarily creating an economic crossroads as well as a symbol.
A linguistic map made visible by the winners
The 2026 selection spans cinema in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Tulu, Garhwali and Santhali, among other languages. This diversity is not confined to peripheral categories. It appears at the top of the list: the acting prize is shared by a Malayalam film and a Hindi film, the directing award goes to a Tamil production, and the popular entertainment honor to a Telugu film.
Santhali cinema also crosses a threshold with its first honor in the non-feature section, as Angen wins Best Debut Film of a Director in that category. Best Non-Feature Film Bhangaar combines Marathi and English, while Ram-Nami receives Best Documentary. The awards place forms and languages with very different commercial reach on the same national stage.
Anant Nag, a career connecting industries
The ceremony will also honor Anant Nag with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2024, Indian cinema’s highest distinction for long-term contribution. Born in Karnataka in 1948, the actor has worked across more than five decades and appeared in over 300 films in Kannada, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil and Marathi. His trajectory makes tangible the idea of a national cinema built through movement between ecosystems.
The choice celebrates a presence not defined only by contemporary stardom. Nag has worked in art cinema, popular productions and television, notably Malgudi Days. At a time when streaming services organize catalogs by language and test their potential with new audiences, his career is a reminder that movement between film cultures long predates streaming.
Between public prestige and the creative economy
Created in 1954, the National Film Awards cover feature films, non-fiction and writing on cinema. Their function extends beyond trophies. They create an official archive of artistic production, confer national legitimacy on works with very different economic models and can extend their lives in theaters, festivals, media coverage and streaming catalogs.
The moment coincides with a broader economic ambition. India’s government describes the creative industries as a new growth frontier and estimates that animation, visual effects, gaming and comics may require nearly two million skilled professionals by 2030. In that context, a multilingual awards list also operates as a showcase for talent, intellectual property and exportable craft.
This policy alone cannot guarantee better distribution for regional films or equal access to finance. Ceremonial visibility may be brief unless it is followed by theater networks, restoration programs, quality subtitles and investment in training. But moving the event and broadening its stage changes the official narrative: excellence no longer flows from one center toward the regions; it is built from multiple centers.
A ceremony as a market signal
The most visible winners combine political subjects, genre filmmaking, sports biography, futuristic mythology and social narratives. Their coexistence describes a market where the line between prestige and popular success is becoming more porous. The awards can help international distributors navigate that abundance without reducing Indian cinema to Hindi-language production or a handful of pan-Indian blockbusters.
The Ekta Nagar ceremony will therefore be watched for its winners and for the model it establishes. If future editions genuinely circulate among states, the National Film Awards could become an itinerant institution that makes a different cultural infrastructure visible each year. In a country where the screen speaks many languages, the place that distributes prestige matters almost as much as the list of winners.
Sources
- Press Information Bureau — President of India to Present 72nd National Film Awards at Ekta Nagar, September 8, 2026
- Press Information Bureau — National Film Awards: A Nation’s Tribute to the Magic of Indian Cinema, September 20, 2026
- Press Information Bureau — Anant Nag to receive the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, September 16, 2026
- Press Information Bureau — Creative Economy is Emerging as India’s Next Growth Frontier, September 18, 2026
