At The National Film Awards, Bollywood Won the Top Titles, But South Indian Cinema Stole the Show

After a huge comeback by Bollywood last year, the 72nd National Film Awards delivered a split in Indian cinema. Bollywood walked away with the biggest headline-making honours, but once the winners across direction, writing and technical categories were announced, South Indian cinema had reclaimed its dominance.

The night's top prize, Best Feature Film, went to Article 370, while Yami Gautam won Best Actress for her performance in the political thriller. Kartik Aaryan picked up his first Best Actor National Award for Chandu Champion, sharing the honour with Malayalam superstar Mammootty for Bramayugam.

Beyond these marquee categories, the awards were shaped by filmmakers from the South. Tamil filmmaker Rajkumar Periasamy won Best Director for Amaran, while Telugu filmmaker Sukumar won Best Original Screenplay for Pushpa 2: The Rule. Another Telugu film, Lucky Bhaskhar, earned Venky Atluri the award for Best Dialogue.

Meanwhile, Malayalam horror drama Bramayugam won Best Cinematography for Shehnad Jalal, Telugu blockbuster Kalki 2898 AD claimed Best Production Design and was named Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, while Tamil and Telugu films continued to sweep awards across editing, music, action direction and costume design.

All in all, the four southern film industries collected 24 major artistic and technical awards combined.

At the 71st National Film Awards last year, Bollywood enjoyed one of its strongest years in recent memory. 12th Fail won Best Feature Film, while Shah Rukh Khan won his first-ever National Award for Jawan, sharing Best Actor with Vikrant Massey. Hindi cinema dominated many of the biggest conversations coming out of the ceremony. This year, however, the balance swung back.

The 72nd National Film Awards may have crowned a Hindi film as the year's best, but they also reinforced another reality. When it came to the breadth of creative and technical excellence on display, South Indian cinema once again set the benchmark.