National Film Award for Best Biographical Film
# National Film Award for Best Biographical Film

The National Film Award for Best Biographical 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 non-feature films and awarded with Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus).

The award was instituted in 1984, at 32nd National Film Awards and awarded annually for the short films produced in the year across the country, in all Indian languages.

## Winners

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

Awards legends :

| | Indicates a joint award for the year |
| - | - |
| † | Awarded as Best Biographical Film / Best Historical Reconstruction Film |

List of films, showing the year, language(s), producer(s), director(s) and citation :

| Year | Film(s) | Language(s) | Producer(s) | Director(s) | Citation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1984 (32nd) | Padmashri Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair | Malayalam | James Paul | Matthew Paul | – |
| 1985 (33rd) | Satyajit Ray | English | Films Division | Shyam Benegal | For the deep analysis of the life and work of Satyajit Ray, in a face-to-face interaction. |
| 1985 (33rd) | The Seer Who Walks Alone | English | G. Aravindan | G. Aravindan | For the sensitive portrayal of the life, personality and philosophy of J. Krishnamurthi, the noted philosopher. |
| 1986 (34th) | Sister Alphonsa of Bharananganam | English | • Dejo Kappen • George Sebastian | Rajiv Vijay Raghavan | For its creative use of cinematography in portraying with great sympathy and understanding the life of Sister Alphonsa. |
| 1986 (34th) | Kamala Nehru | English | Uma Shankar | Ashish Mukherjee | For the innovative use of graphics in the effective depiction of the subject. |
| 1987 (35th) | Basheer: The Man | English | Kannakulam Abdulla | M. R. Rahman | For its presentation of a relatively unknown literary personality through a fresh, spontaneous, uninhibited portrayal that brings out the complexity of an unconventional individual, rich in wit and worldly wisdom. |
| 1988 (36th) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 1989 (37th) | C. V. Raman: The Scientist and His Legacy | English | N. K. Saigal | Nandan Kudhyadi | For being an innovative and sensitive biography of a great scientist, C. V. Raman, portraying his achievements, trials and tribulations. |
| 1990 (38th) | Baba | English | Mediart Film Pvt. Ltd | Rajiv Mehrotra | For the relaxed and sensitive portrayal of an extraordinary man of our times, bubbling with humanity, portraying the social causes for which Baba Amte has dedicated life, with a sense of deep involvement, never descending to eulogising. |
| 1991 (39th) | Bhavantarana | Oriya | Bombay Cinematograph | Kumar Shahani | For presenting the life and art of Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra in distinct stylised manner. |
| 1991 (39th) | Kabitar Ananta Jatrapathe | Bengali | Department of Information and Cultural Affairs, Government of West Bengal | Sanat Kumar Dasgupta | For imaginative visualisation of poetry of the late Jibananand Das and relating it to his life and time. |
| 1992 (40th) | Pandit Bhimsen Joshi | Hindi | Gulzar for Films Division | Gulzar | For a moving rendering of the life of great master of ragas. |
| 1993 (41st) | Colors of Absence | English | • Shanta Gokhale • Arun Khopkar | Arun Khopkar | For a beautifully crafted and successful presentation of the biography of the painter, Jehangir Sabavala, through his work. The sound design of the film has also been meticulously conceived. |
| 1994 (42nd) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 1995 (43rd) | A Living Legend | English | Aurora Film Corporation | Satadru Chaki | For portraying with sincerity the life of an educationist and parliamentarian Prof. Hiren Mukherjee. |
| 1996 (44th) | Hastir Kanya | Assamese | Digbijay Medhi | Prabin Hazarika | For exploring the world of Goalpariya folk music through the life of singer Pratima Borooah Pandey of Gauripur, Assam. |
| 1997 (45th) | Mounam Sowmanasyam | Malayalam | T. Ravindranath | Ravindran | For an insightful evocation of the shy and retiring filmmaker Arvindan, and the erudite assessment of his cinematic idiom. |
| 1998 (46th) | Premji: Ithihasathinte Sparsam | Malayalam | Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi | M. R. Rajan | For an insightful voyage into the meaningful and exemplary lives of Premji and M.R.B., two legendary social reformers. |
| 1998 (46th) | Unarvinte Kalam: M.R.B. | Malayalam | Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi | M. R. Rajan | For an insightful voyage into the meaningful and exemplary lives of Premji and M.R.B., two legendary social reformers. |
| 1999 (47th) | Nottam | Malayalam | Bina Narayan | M. R. Rajan | For portraying the renowned Kathakali actor Kizhpadam Kumaran Nair, his valuable contribution to the art form, his devotion, dignity and his insights into nature, art and life. |
| 1999 (47th) | Mallika Sarabhai | English | Films Division | Aruna Raje Patil | For a vibrant presentation of a contemporary woman’s life and art, through the perspective of Mallika Sarabhai. |
| 2000 (48th) | Devanarthakan (The Divine Dancer) | Malayalam | A. V. Ali Koya for Kerala State Chalachitra Academy | Sudish Gopalakrishnan | For the effective portrayal of Kodakkat Kannan Peruvannan, the renowned Theyyam artist, popularly known as Devanarthakan. |
| 2001 (49th) | Teejan Bai | Hindi | Kuldeep Sinha for Films Division | V. Packirisamy | For the portrayal of the success story of the folk artist. |
| 2002 (50th) | Meeting Manjit | English | Ina Puri | Buddhadeb Dasgupta | For making incisive use of the visual potential of cinema to give us rare insight into an artist's life, his subconscious and its articulation on canvas. The film brilliantly juxtaposes the journeys of the artist, his friend Ina and the film maker himself. |
| 2003 (51st) | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award | No Award |
| 2004 (52nd) | It's Prabhat | Marathi | A. V. Damle | Madhavi Vaidya | For presenting the glorious history of Prabhat Film Company in a very engaging and fascinating manner through excellent compilation of the excerpts of some of the renowned old films of the company. |
| 2005 (53rd) | Hans Akela: Kumar Gandharva† | Hindi | Films Division | Jabbar Patel | For a film made with a deep sense of understanding of classical Music. This well researched film sensitively evokes the unique personality and contribution of Kumar Gandharva and shows the human face of his outstanding creativity. |
| 2006 (54th) | Minukku | Malayalam | • Devadasan Keezhpatt • Bina Narayanan | M. R. Rajan | The film succeeds in imaginatively presenting the life story of "Kottakkal Sivaraman" the legendary Kathakali artist, who specialises in performing female roles. In the process it also highlights some aspects of traditional Kathakali dance. |
| 2006 (54th) | Guru Laimayum Thambalngoubi Devi | Meitei | Aribam Syam Sharma | Aribam Syam Sharma | For the simplicity and grace with which the director has related the story of the great Manipuri dance and theatre artist "Guru Laimayum Thambalngoubi Devi". |
| 2007 (55th) | Antardhwani† | Hindi | Films Division | Jabbar Patel | For creatively bringing out the life and times of Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma in his journey to revive the lost music of the Santoor and place it on the world stage. The pace and rhythm of the film is in tune with the melodious music of the Santoor. |
| 2008 (56th) | The Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi: A Reconstruction | English | Films Division | R. Krishna Mohan | For traversing vast stretches of time and geographical space, this film deftly puts together strands of information, perception, evidence and historical contexts to reconstruct a compelling narrative about the gruesome assassination of a world leader. |
| 2009 (57th) | Pancham Unmixed | • Bengali • Hindi • English | Brahmanand S Siingh | Brahmanand S Siingh | For an engaging compilation of the tumultuous journey of a legendary and iconic music composer of the Indian Film Industry whose music lives on. |
| 2010 (58th) | Nilamadhaba | English | Films Division | Dilip Patnaik | For an intimate portrayal of the inimitable Sunanda Patnaik, whose life is inseparable from contemporary Indian classical music. The film explores the inner spirit of the artist through evocative moments, pregnant with visual passages. |
| 2011 (59th) | Vishnupant Damle: Bolpatancha Mook Nayak† | Marathi | Anil Anant Damle | Virendra Valsangkar | For capturing the odyssey of an unsung pioneer of cinema who dared to follow his dreams and enriched the grand canvas experience of the Indian film history. |
| 2012 (60th) | Celluloid Man† | • English • Hindi • Kannada • Bengali | Shivendra Singh Dungarpur | Shivendra Singh Dungarpur | For capturing, with warmth, the essential impetus of the life of a person whose love for cinema and its diligent archiving has virtually created a cinematic heritage and encouraged generations of filmmakers. And for the film's ability to share the beauty of this impetus with its own creative archiving that makes for a rich multi-layered biography. |
| 2013 (61st) | The Last Adieu† | English | Films Division | Shabnam Sukhdev | For its insight into the work of an exceptionally passionate documentary filmmaker blended with a frank and moving account of his daughter’s attempt to come to terms with his estrangement from the family. |
| 2014 (62nd) | Amar Katha: Story of Binodini† | Bengali | Films Division | Tuhinabha Majumder | For its stylistic and poetic portrayal of the 19th century theatre actress Binodini Devi's autobiography. |
| 2015 (63rd) | Life in Metaphors: A Portrait of Girish Kasaravalli† | • English • Kannada | Reelism Film | O. P. Shrivastava | Philosophical images of life and beyond. |
| 2016 (64th) | Zikr Us Parivaksha: Begum Akhtar† | English | Sangeet Natak Akademi | Nirmal Chander | This film uses archival recordings, recreations and interviews to take us on a touching musical journey with a lady who broke open social barriers, becoming one of India's most legendary musical maestros. |
| 2017 (65th) | Naachi se Baanchi† | | Films Division of India | Biju Toppo | Tracing the footprints of the global yet rooted leader Padmashree Ram DayalMunda's inspirational journey through his music, academics and politics. |
| 2017 (65th) | Sword of Liberty† | | R. C. Suresh | Shiny Benjamin | An elaborate reconstruction of a Diwan’s life in the erstwhile Travancore State. |
