National Film Award for Best Cinematography (non-feature film)

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National Film Award for Best Cinematography
National award for contributions to non-feature films
Sponsored by National Film Development Corporation of India
Rewards
  • Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus)
  • ₹2,00,000
First award1990
Final award2023
Most recent winnerSaravanamaruthu Soundarapandi
Meenakshi Soman
Highlights
Total awarded80
First winner

The National Film Award for Best Cinematography is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for non-feature films and awarded with Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus).

Contents

The award was instituted in 1990, at 38th National Film Awards and awarded annually for short films produced in the year across the country, in all Indian languages. Since the 70th National Film Awards (2022), the primary/main cinematographer is eligible to the award, thus eliminating the existing Cameraman and Laboratory Processing sub-categories. [1]

Winners

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

Indicates a joint award for that year

1991–2021

List of award recipients, showing the year (award ceremony), film(s) and language(s)
YearCameraman(s)Laboratory ProcessingFilm(s)Language(s)Refs.
1990
(38th) 		Santosh Sivan Prasad Film Laboratories Mohiniyattam English [2]
Victor Banerjee Prasad Film LaboratoriesWhere No Journeys EndEnglish
1991
(39th) 		Shekar Dattatri [3] Prasad Film LaboratoriesSilent Valley: An Indian Rain forest [4] English [5]
1992
(40th) 		Soumendu Roy Adlabs Sucitra Mitra [6] Bengali [7]
1993
(41st) 		Piyush Shah –MokshaBengali [8]
1994
(42nd) 		Anoop JotwaniVijay Color LabRasayatra [9]  •Hindi
 •English		 [10]
1995
(43rd) 		Rafey MehmoodAdlabsTarana [11] Hindi [12]
1996
(44th) 		Hari Nair Prasad Film LaboratoriesSham's VisionEnglish [13]
1997
(45th) 		Ashok Dasgupta –The Trail [14] English [15]
1998
(46th) 		Ranjan Palit Prasad Film LaboratoriesIn The Forest Hangs a Bridge [16] English [17]
1999
(47th) 		Mankada Ravi Varma Prasad Film LaboratoriesKalamandalam Gopi [18] Malayalam [19]
2000
(48th) 		Prasann JainAdlabsRasikpriya •Hindi
 •English		 [20]
2001
(49th) 		Nilotpal SarkarPrasad Film LaboratoryJorasanko ThakurbariEnglish [21]
Irom Maipak Prasad Kalinga LabThe Monpas of Arunachal PradeshEnglish
2002
(50th) 		No Award [22]
2003
(51st) 		Ranjan PalitPrasad Film LaboratoryKaya Poochhe Maya SeHindi [23]
K. G. Jayan Prasad Film LaboratoryThe 18th Elephant: Three MonologuesMalayalam
2004
(52nd) 		Manoj Raymond LoboAdlabsGirni Marathi [24]
2005
(53rd) 		Paramvir SinghAdlabsParsiwada, Tarapore Present Day •English
 • Gujarati 		[25]
2006
(54th) 		Rajendra Janglay –Raga of River Narmada – [26]
Sanjay V.
2007
(55th) 		Savita Singh –KramashaHindi [27]
2008
(56th) 		Shariqva Badar KhanFilmlabThree of Us – [28]
Jaya Krishna Gummadi AdlabsWhen This Man Dies •Hindi
 •English
2009
(57th) 		Deepu S. UnniAdlabsGaarud •Hindi
 •Marathi		 [29]
2010
(58th) 		Murali G.FilmlabShyam Raat Seher •Hindi
 •English		 [30]
2011
(59th) 		S. Nallamuthu –Tiger DynastyEnglish [31]
2012
(60th) 		Abhimanyu Dange Reliance MediaWorks KaatalMarathi [32]
Raja Shabir Khan –Shepherds of Paradise •Gojri
 •Urdu
2013
(61st) 		Kavin JagtianiReliance MediaWorksMandrake !Mandrake !Hindi [33]
2014
(62nd) 		Indraneel Lahiri –Aamaar Katha: Story of BinodiniBengali [34]
2015
(63rd) 		Amartya Bhattacharyya  –Benaras: The Unexplored AttachmentsBengali [35]
2016
(64th) 		Alpesh Nagar –KalpvrikshaHindi [36]
Vishal SangwaiAdnyatEnglish
2017
(65th) 		Appu Prabhakar  –Eye Test – [37]
Arnold FernandesDawn –
2018
(66th) 		Ajay Bedi –The Secret Life of Frogs – [38]
2019
(67th) 		Savita Singh –SonsiHindi [39]
2020
(68th) 		Nikhil S Praveen –Shabdikkunna Kalappa (Talking Plow)Malayalam [40]
2021
(69th) 		Bittu Rawat –Pataal-Tee Bhotiya [41]

2022–present

Since the 70th National Film Awards, cinematographer alone is awarded.

List of award recipients, showing the year (award ceremony), film(s) and language(s)
YearRecipient(s)Film(s)Language(s)Refs.
2022
(70th) 		Siddharth DiwanMono No Aware • Hindi
 • English		 [42]
2023
(71st) 		Saravanamaruthu Soundarapandi
Meenakshi Soman		Little WingsTamil [43]

References

  1. ↑ Under Secretary to the Government of India (14 December 2023). "Report on Rationalization of Awards Conferred by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting | Ministry of Information and Broadcasting | Government of India". Ministry of Information and Broadcasting . Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  2. ↑ "38th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  3. ↑ "Silent Valley – An Indian Rainforest (1990)". 21 September 2025.
  4. ↑ Geeta Padmanabhan (16 April 2017). "Work for the joy of it: Shekar Dattatri". The Hindu.
  5. ↑ "39th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  6. ↑ "Suchitra Mitra". 22 September 2025.
  7. ↑ "40th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  8. ↑ "41st National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  9. ↑ "Rasayatra - The Travelling Song (Full Movie) on YouTube". 22 September 2025.
  10. ↑ "42nd National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  11. ↑ "Tarana". 22 September 2025.
  12. ↑ "43rd National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  13. ↑ "44th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  14. ↑ "The Trail". 22 September 2025.
  15. ↑ "45th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  16. ↑ "In the forest hangs a bridge – documentary trailer on YouTube". 22 September 2025.
  17. ↑ "46th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  18. ↑ "Kalamandalam Gopi documentary on YouTube". 22 September 2025.
  19. ↑ "47th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  20. ↑ "48th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  21. ↑ "49th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  22. ↑ "50th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  23. ↑ "51st National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  24. ↑ "52nd National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  25. ↑ "53rd National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  26. ↑ "54th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  27. ↑ "55th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  28. ↑ "56th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  29. ↑ "57th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  30. ↑ "58th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  31. ↑ "59th National Film Awards for the Year 2011 Announced". Press Information Bureau (PIB), India. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  32. ↑ "60th National Film Awards Announced" (PDF) (Press release). Press Information Bureau (PIB), India. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  33. ↑ "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.
  34. ↑ "62nd National Film Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Directorate of Film Festivals. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  35. ↑ "63rd National Film Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Directorate of Film Festivals. 28 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  36. ↑ "64th National Film Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  37. ↑ "National Awards: Sridevi Wins Best Actress Posthumously For MOM, Dadasaheb Phalke For Vinod Khanna". NDTV.
  38. ↑ "66th National Film Awards for 2018 announced". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  39. ↑ "67th National Film Awards announced". Press Information Bureau . 22 March 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  40. ↑ "68th National Film Awards announced". Press Information Bureau . 22 July 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
  41. ↑ "69th National Film Awards for the year 2021 announced". Press Information Bureau . 24 August 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  42. ↑ "70th National Film Awards for the year 2022 announced". Press Information Bureau . 16 August 2024. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  43. ↑ "71st National Film Awards 2025 Live Updates: Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji win first National Awards; Vikrant Massey and 12th Fail bag trophies". The Indian Express. 1 August 2025. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
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