National Film Award for Best Children's Film

National Film Award for Best Children's Film
National award for contributions to Indian Cinema
Sponsored by	Directorate of Film Festivals
Formerly called	Prime Minister's Gold Medal for the Best Children's Film
Reward(s)	Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) ₹150,000 (US$1,900)
First awarded	1954
Last awarded	2023
Most recent winner	Gandhi & Co.
Highlights
Total awarded	57
First winner	Khela Ghar

The National Film Award for Best Children's Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Golden Lotus (Swarna Kamal).

The award was instituted in 1954, at 1st National Film Awards and awarded annually for children's films produced in the year across the country, in all Indian languages; Hindi (28 Awards), Bengali (7 Awards), Malayalam and Kannada (6 each), English (5 Awards), Marathi (3 Awards), Tamil, Telugu, Oriya and Assamese (1 each).

Winners

Award includes 'Golden Lotus Award' (Swarna Kamal) and cash prize. Following are the award winners over the years:

Awards legends
*	Swarna Kamal (Gold Medal) for the Best Children's Film
*	Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Children's Film
*	Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Children's Film
*	Certificate of Merit for the Best Children's Film
*	Indicates a joint award for that year

List of award films, showing the year (award ceremony), language(s), producer(s), director(s) and citation
Year	Film(s)	Language(s)	Producer(s)	Director(s)	Citation	Refs.
1953 (1st)	Khela Ghar	Bengali	Aurora Films	–	–	[1]
1954 (2nd)	No Award					[2]
1955 (3rd)	No Award					[3]
1956 (4th)	Jaldeep	Bengali	Children's Film Society	Kidar Sharma	–	[4]
1957 (5th)	Hum Panchhi Ek Daal Ke	Hindi	AVM Productions	P. L. Santoshi	–	[5]
	Janmatithi	Bengali	R. B. Films	Dilip Mukherjee	–
1958 (6th)	Virsa and the Magic Doll	English	Little Cinema Pvt Ltd.	Santi P. Chowdhury	–	[6]
1959 (7th)	Banyan Deer	English	Films Division	•Ahmed Lateef  •Shanti Verma  •G. G. Saraiya	–	[7]
1960 (8th)	Phool Aur Kaliyan	Hindi	Rajkamal Kalamandir	Ram Gabale	–	[8]
	Idd Mubarak	Hindi	Children's Film Society	Khwaja Ahmad Abbas	–
	Delhi Ki Kahani	Hindi	Children's Film Society	Rajendra Kumar	–
1961 (9th)	Hattogol Vijay	Hindi	Hari S. Dasgupta Productions	•Buju Das Gupta  •Raghunath Goswami	–	[9]
	Savitri	Hindi	Children's Film Society	Phani Majumdar	–
	Nanhe Munne Sitare	Hindi	Ajay Kumar Chakravarty	Ajay Kumar Chakravarty	–
1962 (10th)	Raju Aur Gangaram	Hindi	Children's Film Society	Ezra Mir	–	[10]
1963 (11th)	Panch Puthliyan	Hindi	Children's Film Society	Amit Bose	–	[11]
1964 (12th)
1965 (13th)	The Adventure of A Sugar Doll	English	Children's Film Society	Kantilal Rathod	–	[12]
	As You Like It	English	Children's Film Society	S. Shankar	–
1966 (14th)
1967 (15th)	No Award					[13]
1968 (16th)	Heerer Prajapati	Bengali	Children's Film Society	Shanti P. Chowdhury	–	[14]
1969 (17th)	No Award					[15]
1970 (18th)	No Award					[16]
1971 (19th)	Wings of Fire	English	–	–	–
1972 (20th)	No Award					[17]
1973 (21st)	No Award					[18]
1974 (22nd)	No Award					[19]
1975 (23rd)	No Award					[20]
1976 (24th)
1977 (25th)	Safed Haathi	Hindi	•R. A. Jalan  •Pratap Agarwal	Tapan Sinha	For a film with which a quiet realism evokes the fascination and mystery of the jungle; for its mature emphasis on the harmonious relationship between man and nature; for the personal empathy portrayed between a child and creatures of the forest; for a story of lyrical charm and gripping adventure which educates even as it entertains children and grown-ups alike.	[21]
1978 (26th)	Joi Baba Felunath	Bengali	R. D. Bansal	Satyajit Ray	For the wit and craftsmanship used to synthesise a child's world of fantasy with an adult story of crime and detection.	[22]
1979 (27th)
1980 (28th)	No Award					[23]
1981 (29th)	No Award					[24]
1982 (30th)	No Award					[25]
1983 (31st)	Bhombal Sardar	Bengali	Government of West Bengal	Nripen Ganguly	For its lively and lyrical description of a world seen through the eyes of a boy.	[26]
1984 (32nd)	My Dear Kuttichathan	Malayalam	M. C. Punnoose	Jijo Punnoose	–	[27]
1985 (33rd)	Aazadi Ki Ore	Hindi	Sangeethalaya	P. S. Prakash	For exploring man's cruelty to and exploitation of animals and, through an interesting story, inculcating in the minds of children the love of animals.	[28]
1986 (34th)	No Award					[29]
1987 (35th)	Swamy	Hindi	T. S. Narasimhan	Shankar Nag	For the delightful recreation of childhood and growing up in an Indian village during the freedom movement.	[30]
1988 (36th)	Manu Uncle	Malayalam	Joy Thomas	Dennis Joseph	For endearing and hilarious picturisation which promotes a sense of adventure among children.	[31]
1989 (37th)	Ankur Maina Aur Kabootar	Hindi	Children's Film Society	Madan Bawaria	For its involvement of children in the fight for preservation of wildlife in the exotically shot isle of Mauritius.	[32]
	Jamboo Savari	Kannada	K. S. L. Swame (Lalitha Ravee)	K. S. L. Swame (Lalitha Ravee)	For the way in which it establishes the conflict between a child's instinctive love for a wild animal and the reality of man-animal relationships in the modern world, along with the resolution of that conflict.
1990 (38th)	No Award					[33]
1991 (39th)	Abhayam	Malayalam	Children's Film Society	Sivan	For its outstanding qualities as a film that entertains children and adults alike.	[34]
1992 (40th)	Mujhse Dosti Karoge	Hindi	National Center of Films for Children and Young People	Gopi Desai	For its gentle handling of a child who has exciting adventures in his own social dream world.	[35]
1993 (41st)	Lavanya Preeti	Oriya	National Center of Films for Children and Young People	Apurba Kishore Bir	For its subtle and delicate exposition of the growing-up process from childhood to adolescence through the use of myths and striking visuals.	[36]
1994 (42nd)	Kochaniyan	Malayalam	Bushura Shahudeen	Satheesh Vengannoor	For a simple but effective tale of a middle class Kerala family told through the experiences and dreams of a young boy.	[37]
	Abhay	Hindi	National Center of Films for Children and Young People	Annu Kapoor	For an entertaining film advocating humane love between a child and a ghost advocating a rational outlook to life.
1995 (43rd)	Halo	Hindi	National Center of Films for Children and Young People	Santosh Sivan	For its refreshing approach to the subject and in bringing out the impact of urban insensitivity from a child's point of view leading to a memorable finale.	[38]
1996 (44th)	Damu	Bengali	Art Films	Raja Sen	For charming story of a simpleton who keeps his word given to a child.	[39]
1997 (45th)	Ramayanam	Telugu	M. S. Reddy	Gunasekhar	For presenting the classical Indian epic in an entertaining narrative style with child actors playing all the legendary characters with ease and verve. The film provides an opportunity for children to keep in touch with the country's cultural heritage.	[40]
1998 (46th)	Kabhi Pass Kabhi Fail	Hindi	National Center of Films for Children and Young People	Virendra Saini	For weaving an enchanting tale that can be enjoyed by children of all ages and drawing memorable performances from its large cast of characters.	[41]
1999 (47th)	Goal	Hindi	Children's Film Society	Gul Bahar Singh	For stressing the sportsmanship of a small town coach who supports, without any bias, the raw talent of an underprivileged aspirant with no education and with a social stigma.	[42]
2000 (48th)	Gharaksharangal	Malayalam	Salim Padiyath	Salim Padiyath	For depicting, through the eyes of a child love and respect for our mother tongue and culture tackling many social issues pertaining to education, agriculture and general empowerment, for a civic society.	[43]
2001 (49th)	No Award					[44]
2002 (50th)	Baaja	Hindi	Children's Film Society	Apurba Kishore Bir	For its poignant, portrayal of the maturing of a young mind.	[45]
2003 (51st)	Tora	Assamese	Children's Film Society	Jahnu Barua	For showing how a child brings down the boundaries and barriers created by adults.	[46]
2004 (52nd)	Chutkan Ki Mahabharat	Hindi	Children's Film Society	Sankalp Meshram	The film is phantasanagonic story of a boy whose dreams start coming true suddenly. All hell breaks loose when a Nautanki comes to village to play Mahabharata and suddenly its story changes. The warring Kaurvas and Pandavas bury their differences and become friends even before the war has begun.	[47]
2005 (53rd)	The Blue Umbrella	Hindi	UTV Motion Pictures	Vishal Bhardwaj	For its poetic and visually stunning interpretation of a story highlighting the values of selflessness and compassion.	[48]
2006 (54th)	Care of Footpath	Kannada	Shylaja Shrikanth	Kishan Shrikanth	For articulating the burning desire for education in a slumdweller. The issue is particularly relevant, as the film is directed by a nine-year-old boy.	[49]
2007 (55th)	Photo	Hindi	Children's Film Society	Virendra Saini	For unfolding a magic world of images and sound to a talented young child by highlighting the milestones of cinema history in a lucid manner.	[50]
2008 (56th)	Gubbachigalu	Kannada	Media House Studio	Abhaya Simha	For imaginative portrayal of a magic world that exists in the minds of children.	[51]
2009 (57th)	Putaani Party	Kannada	Children's Film Society	Ramchandra P. N.	For the novel idea of empowering children to work as a Panchayat to combat alcoholism that destroys their future.	[52]
	Keshu	Malayalam	Children's Film Society	Sivan	For the sensitivity that explores the lonely world of a specially enabled child and the inability of adults to recognise the genius in him.
2010 (58th)	Hejjegalu	Kannada	Basanta Kumar Patil	P. R. Ramadas Naidu	A little girl cheerfully takes on the challenge to preserve the fabric of her family.	[53]
2011 (59th)	Chillar Party	Hindi	• UTV Software Communications  • Salman Khan	• Vikas Bahl  • Nitesh Tiwari	For its skilful mediation on complex issues related to political corruption, media, child labour, and love for animals via an adorable group of children located in an apartment block of Mumbai. The director playfully and innovatively moves towards instilling a sense of responsibility and values both amongst children and adults. The result is a rare film that addresses our contemporary times with humour, wit, innocence and intelligence.	[54]
2012 (60th)	Dekh Indian Circus	Hindi	Mahaveer Jain	Mangesh Hadawale	The attraction of a travelling circus in a rural ambiance and the travails of a housewife with two children wanting to view the circus. A compelling, yet entertaining children's film.	[55]
2013 (61st)	Kaphal	Hindi	Children's Film Society	Batul Mukhtiar	A small village deep in Uttarakhand. A touching story set in beautiful mountains where two young boys pine for their father who has been away for quite a few years. They have dreams which they share with their close friends as they frolic around.	[56]
2014 (62nd)	Kaaka Muttai	Tamil	Grass Root Film Company	M. Manikandan	For narrating a charming story of two brothers who are unaware of their deprived status and have a confrontation with the tastelessness of globalization.	[57]
	Elizabeth Ekadashi	Marathi	Essel Vision Productions Ltd.	Paresh Mokashi	For a delightful tale that reaffirms children's ability to negotiate the complexities of life with relative ease.
2015 (63rd)	Budhia Singh – Born to Run	Hindi	Code Red Films	Soumendra Padhi	Story of a child prodigy on his undying spirit to achieve the impossible.	[58]
2016 (64th)	Dhanak	Hindi	Drishyam Films	Nagesh Kukunoor	In appreciation of exploring a child’s world devoid of malice.	[59]
2017 (65th)	Mhorkya	Marathi	Kalyan Rajmogli Padal	Amar Bharat Deokar	–
2018 (66th)	Sarkari Hi. Pra. Shaale, Kasaragodu, Koduge: Ramanna Rai	Kannada	Rishab Shetty Films	Rishab Shetty	The film effectively portrays the positive action of children to tackle the issue of language politics in schools located on State borders.	[60]
2019 (67th)	Kastoori	Hindi	Insight Films	Vinod Uttreshwar Kamble	The wonderful concept which depicts the dignity of an individual child is more important than the exterior appearance.	[61]
2020 (68th)	Sumi	Marathi	Harshall Kamat Entertainment	Amol Vasant Gole	For narrating the inspiring tale of a young girl who is keen on continuing her education in a distant place and the hurdles she faces.	[62]
2023 (69th)	Gandhi & Co.	Gujarati		Manish Saini		[63]

References

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49. "54th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
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51. "56th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
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55. "60th National Film Awards Announced" (PDF) (Press release). Press Information Bureau (PIB), India. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
56. "61st National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. 16 April 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
57. "62nd National Film Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Directorate of Film Festivals. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
58. "63rd National Film Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Directorate of Film Festivals. 28 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
59. "64th National Film Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
60. "66th National Film Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
61. "67th National Film Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
62. "68th National Film Awards | Soorarai Pottru wins Best Film award". The Hindu. 22 July 2022. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 23 July 2022.
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External links

• Official Page for Directorate of Film Festivals, India
• National Film Awards Archives
• National Film Awards at IMDb