| National Film Award for Best Sound Design | |
|---|---|
| National award for contributions to non-feature films | |
| Sponsored by | National Film Development Corporation of India |
| Formerly called | National Film Award for Best Audiography (1991–2021) |
| Reward(s) |
|
| First awarded | 1990 |
| Last awarded | 2022 |
| Most recent winner | Manas Choudhury |
| Highlights | |
| Total awarded | 37 |
| First winner | Sujit Sarkar |
The National Film Award for Best Sound Design 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).
The award was instituted in 1990, at 38th National Film Awards and awarded annually for the short films produced in the year across the country, in all Indian languages. At the 70th National Film Awards, both Best Audiography and Best On-location Sound Recordist were clubbed to a single category as Best Sound Design. Since then, only the sound designer is eligible for the award. [1]
Award includes 'Rajat Kamal' (Silver Lotus) and cash prize. Following are the award winners over the years:
| Awards legends | |
|---|---|
* | On-location Sound Recordist (until 2021) |
| List of award recipients, showing the year (award ceremony), film(s), language(s) and citation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Recipient(s) | Film(s) | Language(s) | Citation | Refs. |
| 1990 (38th) | Sujit Sarkar | Mohor | Bengali | For preserving the aura of Gurudev's presence by transporting the audience through the years in the flowering of Rabindra Sangeet, embellishing the performance of the great singer Kanika Bandopadhyay. | [2] |
| 1991 (39th) | Anil Tendulkar | Sons of Abotani: The Misings | Mishing | For the selective and imaginative use of commentary and dialogues and the sculpted sound which enriches the film. | [3] |
| Gautam Bora | |||||
| 1992 (40th) | Sanjoy Chatterjee | Wangala: A Garo Festival | English | For a sustained standard of sound recording on difficult locations which enriches the quality of the film. | [4] |
| 1993 (41st) | Indrajit Neogi | Maihar Raag | Bengali | For extremely imaginative and conceptual use of location sounds to depict the crumbling heritage of the Maihar orchestra. | [5] |
| 1994 (42nd) | Indrajit Neogi | Another Way of Learning | English | For together bringing about a quality of sound, which so enhances the acoustic, that the viewer becomes a participant. | [6] |
| A. M. Padmanabhan | |||||
| 1995 (43rd) | Shyam Sunder | Tatva | Hindi | For the creative use of sound to interpret the theme of the film. | [7] |
| 1996 (44th) | Nihar R. Samal | Tat Tvam Asi | •Hindi •English | For his restrained, balanced and multi-layered soundtrack. | [8] |
| 1997 (45th) | Pankaj Shil | Matir Bhanr | Bengali | For its strong sound structure which is woven and enmeshed into the fabric of the film. | [9] |
| 1998 (46th) | Satheesh P. M. | Kumar Talkies | Hindi | For a sound design which evokes a vision of an era fading away. | [10] |
| 1999 (47th) | Chinmoy Nath | The Vehicle with a Soul of a Man | – | For imaginatively capturing the hard labour and tediousness of the Pitthu through the sound design achieved through an appropriate synthesis of sound and silence. | [11] |
| 2000 (48th) | Hari Kumar | A Memory of the Sea | English | For designing sound that imaginatively and creatively enhances the mood and narration of the film. | [12] |
| 2001 (49th) | Anup Mukherjee | Enough of Silence | English | For adding a new dimension to the film through innovative sound track. | [13] |
| 2002 (50th) | No Award | [14] | |||
| 2003 (51st) | Ramesh Birajdar | Bhaba Paagla | Bengali | For sound design which evokes a vision of a world far, far away from the madding crowd, which oscillates between the silences and nature's pristine sounds. | [15] |
| 2004 (52nd) | Vivek | Kshy Tra Ghya | Hindi | For evolving an experimental form of narration within a story form, with excellent sound design. | [16] |
| 2005 (53rd) | Anmol Bhave | Closer | – | For its outstandingly imaginative use of sound design complementing an equally breath-taking visual wizardry. Closer leaves its audience with a sense of beauty and awe. | [17] |
| 2006 (54th) | Partha Barman | Bishar Blues | Bengali | For creating a sound track by combining location sound, ambience sound and music that enhance the "meaning" of the film. | [18] |
| 2007 (55th) | Ajit Singh Rathore | Kramasha | Hindi | For the innovative sound design enhances the mood of the film and draws one into the magical ambience replete with fairy tales. | [19] |
| 2008 (56th) | Mateen Ahmad | Children of the Pyre | Hindi | With multiple layers of sound, and the incessant crackle of funeral pyres that cease to sleep, the film grips its audience with a sense of entrapment around the life of children working inside a cremation ground. It is a telling example of digetic sound design keeping its truth to the reality of the location. | [20] |
| 2009 (57th) | Lipika Singh Darai | Gaarud | •Hindi • Marathi | For imaginative use of ambient sounds in effectively creating diverse soundscapes. | [21] |
| 2010 (58th) | Harikumar Madhavan Nair | A Pestering Journey | • Malayalam • Punjabi •Hindi •English • Tulu | Does one hear the cry of the pest? In between the sound of the real and evoking music, the ensuing silence tells us the stories beyond. | [22] |
| 2011 (59th) | Gautam Nair | 1, 2 | Hindi | For creating an aural world that enhances the layered narrative structure of the film. | [23] |
| 2012 (60th) | Harikumar M. | Do Din Ka Mela | Kutchi | For patiently and passionately capturing the world of sounds that beautifully create the rustic flavour that is so critical to this film. | [24] |
| 2013 (61st) | Gautam Nair | Chidiya Udh | – | For a layered and resonant sound track with elements of ambiguity and discord contributing to an overwhelming sense of urban disconnect. | [25] |
| 2014 (62nd) | Anindit Roy | Tender is the Sight | – | The film travels through the imaginary line of manifest and unmanifest worlds of visual and sound that balance effortlessly, imprinting the audience with a haunting aural experience. | [26] |
| Ateesh Chattopadhyay | |||||
| Ayan Bhattacharya | |||||
| 2015 (63rd) | Moumita Roy | Edpa Kana | Kurukh | Soulful sound amidst silence – differences made audible. | [27] |
| 2016 (64th) | Ajith Abraham George | In Return Just a Book | English | Live recording has been done in a detailed and in-depth manner bringing alive the entire ambience. | [28] |
| 2017 (65th) | Avinash Sonawane | Pavasacha Nibandha | Marathi | A near perfect marriage of sound with visuals and narrative in a manner that enhances the impact of the film. | |
| Samarth Mahajan | The Unreserved | Skilful recording of audio in difficult and complicated locations that has made the film come alive. | |||
| 2018 (66th) | Bishwadeep Chatterjee | Children of the Soil | For potently bringing to life, through sound design, every element in this poignant tale of farmer suicides. | ||
| Ajay Bedi | The Secret Life of Frogs | For uniformly capturing the delicate sounds of its tiny protagonists and of the wild and unpredictable environs they inhabit. | |||
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