National Film Award for Best Actor

National Film Award for Best Actor
Suriya
Ajay Devgn
The 2020 recipients: Suriya (left) and Ajay Devgn for Soorarai Pottru and Tanhaji respectively
Awarded forBest Performance by an Actor
Sponsored byDirectorate of Film Festivals
Formerly calledBharat Award (1968–1974)
Reward(s)
  • Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus)
  • 50,000 (US$630)
First awarded1967
Last awarded2022
Most recent winnerSuriya
Ajay Devgn
Highlights
Most awardsAmitabh Bachchan (4)
Total awarded60
First winnerUttam Kumar

The National Film Award for Best Actor, officially known as the Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actor (Hindi pronunciation: [rədʒət̪ kəməl]), is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India instituted since 1967 to actors who have delivered the best performance in a leading role within the Indian film industry. Called the "State Awards for Films" when established in 1954, the National Film Awards ceremony is older than the Directorate of Film Festivals. The State Awards instituted the individual award in 1968 as the "Bharat Award for the Best Actor"; in 1975, it was renamed as the "Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actor". Throughout the past 45 years, accounting for ties and repeat winners, the Government of India has presented a total of 52 "Best Actor" awards to 40 actors. Until 1974, winners of the National Film Award received a figurine and certificate; since 1975, they have been awarded with a "Rajat Kamal" (silver lotus), certificate and a cash prize.

Although the Indian film industry produces films in around 20 languages and dialects, the actors whose performances have won awards have worked in seven major languages: Hindi (twenty-five awards), Malayalam (fourteen awards), Tamil (nine awards), Bengali (five awards), Marathi and Kannada (three awards) and English (two awards).

The first recipient was Uttam Kumar from Bengali cinema, who was honoured at the 15th National Film Awards in 1967 for his performances in Anthony Firingee and Chiriyakhana. He was also the first actor who won this award for two different films in the same year. As of 2020, Amitabh Bachchan is the most honoured actor with four awards. Kamal Haasan, Mammootty and Ajay Devgn with three awards, while six actors—Mohanlal, Sanjeev Kumar, Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Mithun Chakraborty, and Dhanush—have won the award two times. Two actors have achieved the honour for performing in two languages—Mithun Chakraborty (Hindi and Bengali) and Mammootty (Malayalam and English). Riddhi Sen is the youngest recipient of the award at the age of 19. The most recent recipients are Ajay Devgn and Suriya, who were honoured at the 68th National Film Awards for their performances in the films Tanhaji and Soorarai Pottru respectively.

Key

Symbol Meaning
Year Indicates the year in which the film was censored by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC)
dagger Indicates a joint award for that year
double-dagger Indicates that the winner won the award for two performances in that year

Multiple winners

Recipients

Uttam Kumar
(The first-ever recipient of the Best Actor Award for his performances in Antony Firingee and Chiriyakhana in 1967.)
M. G. Ramachandran, former chief minister of Tamil Nadu won the award for his performance in Rickshawkaran in 1971.
Amitabh Bachchan
(Bachchan has been the most frequent winner of the award (four times, having won the award for his performances in Agneepath (1990), Black (2005), Paa (2009) and Piku (2015).)
Kamal Haasan
Mammootty
Ajay Devgn
Kamal Haasan (top), Mammootty (middle), and Ajay Devgn (bottom) are the three actors to win the honour thrice.
Mithun Chakraborty
(was awarded for his debut film.)
Riddhi Sen
(youngest winner)
List of award recipients, showing the year, role(s), film(s) and language(s)
Year Recipient(s) Role(s) Work(s) Language(s) Refs."
1967
(15th)
double-dagger
Uttam Kumar Anthony Firingee Antony Firingee Bengali
Byomkesh Bakshi Chiriyakhana
1968
(16th)
Ashok Kumar Shivnath "Joggi Thakur" Choudhary Aashirwad Hindi
1969
(17th)
Utpal Dutt Bhuvan Shome Bhuvan Shome Hindi
1970
(18th)
Sanjeev Kumar Hamid Ahmed Dastak Hindi
1971
(19th)
M. G. Ramachandran Selvam Rickshawkaran Tamil
1972
(20th)
Sanjeev Kumar Hari Charan Mathur Koshish Hindi
1973
(21st)
P. J. Antony Velichapad Nirmalyam Malayalam
1974
(22nd)
Sadhu Meher Kishtayya Ankur Hindi
1975
(23rd)
M. V. Vasudeva Rao Choma Chomana Dudi Kannada
1976
(24th)
Mithun Chakraborty Ghinua Mrigayaa Hindi
1977
(25th)
Bharath Gopi Shankaran Kutty Kodiyettam Malayalam
1978
(26th)
Arun Mukherjee Parasuram Parasuram Bengali
1979
(27th)
Naseeruddin Shah Anirudh Parmar Sparsh Hindi
1980
(28th)
Balan K. Nair Govindan Oppol Malayalam
1981
(29th)
Om Puri Hari Mondal Arohan Hindi
1982
(30th)
Kamal Haasan R. Srinivas
(Cheenu)
Moondram Pirai Tamil
1983
(31st)
Om Puri Anant Velankar Ardh Satya Hindi
1984
(32nd)
Naseeruddin Shah Naurangia Paar Hindi
1985
(33rd)
Shashi Kapoor Vikas Pande New Delhi Times Hindi
1986
(34th)
Charuhasan Tabara Shetty Tabarana Kathe Kannada
1987
(35th)
Kamal Haasan Sakthivelu Nayakar Nayakan Tamil
1988
(36th)
Premji Raghava Chakyar Piravi Malayalam
1989
(37th)
double-dagger
Mammootty Vaikom Muhammad Basheer
Mathilukal Malayalam
Chandu Chekavar Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha
1990
(38th)
Amitabh Bachchan Vijay Deenanath Chauhan Agneepath Hindi
1991
(39th)
Mohanlal Kalliyur Gopinathan Bharatham Malayalam
1992
(40th)
Mithun Chakraborty Shibnath Tahader Katha Bengali
1993
(41st)
double-dagger
Mammootty Ponthan Mada Ponthan Mada Malayalam
Bhaskara Patelar Vidheyan
1994
(42nd)
Nana Patekar Pratap Narayan Tilak Krantiveer Hindi
1995
(43rd)
Rajit Kapur Mahatma Gandhi The Making of the Mahatma English
1996
(44th)
Kamal Haasan Senapathy
(Indian),
Chandrabose
(Chandru)
Indian Tamil
1997
(45th)
dagger
Balachandra Menon Ismail Samaantharangal Malayalam
Suresh Gopi Kannan Perumalayan Kaliyattam Malayalam
1998
(46th)
dagger
Ajay Devgn Ajay R. Desai Zakhm Hindi
Mammootty B. R. Ambedkar Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar English
1999
(47th)
Mohanlal Kunjikuttan Vanaprastham Malayalam
2000
(48th)
Anil Kapoor Major Jaidev Rajvansh Pukar Hindi
2001
(49th)
Murali Appa Mestry Neythukaran Malayalam
2002
(50th)
Ajay Devgn Bhagat Singh The Legend of Bhagat Singh Hindi
2003
(51st)
Vikram Chithan Pithamagan Tamil
2004
(52nd)
Saif Ali Khan Karan Kapoor Hum Tum Hindi
2005
(53rd)
Amitabh Bachchan Debraj Sahai Black Hindi
2006
(54th)
Soumitra Chatterjee Shashanka Palit Podokkhep Bengali
2007
(55th)
Prakash Raj Vengadam Kanchivaram Tamil
2008
(56th)
Upendra Limaye Tayappa Jogwa Marathi
2009
(57th)
Amitabh Bachchan Auro Paa Hindi
2010
(58th)
dagger
Dhanush K. P. Karuppu Aadukalam Tamil
Salim Kumar Abu Adaminte Makan Abu Malayalam
2011
(59th)
Girish Kulkarni Keshya Deool Marathi
2012
(60th)
dagger
Irrfan Khan Paan Singh Tomar Paan Singh Tomar Hindi
Vikram Gokhale Ratnakar Anumati Marathi
2013
(61st)
dagger
Rajkummar Rao Shahid Azmi Shahid Hindi
Suraj Venjaramoodu Father Perariyathavar Malayalam
2014
(62nd)
Sanchari Vijay Madesha
(Vidya)
Naanu Avanalla...Avalu Kannada
2015
(63rd)
Amitabh Bachchan Bhashkor Banerjee Piku Hindi
2016
(64th)
Akshay Kumar Commander Rustom Pavri Rustom Hindi
2017
(65th)
Riddhi Sen Parimal
(Puti)
Nagarkirtan Bengali
2018
(66th)
dagger
Ayushmann Khurrana Akash Andhadhun Hindi
Vicky Kaushal Major Vihaan Singh Shergill Uri: The Surgical Strike Hindi
2019
(67th)
dagger
Manoj Bajpayee Ganpath Bhonsle Bhonsle Hindi
Dhanush Sivasaami Asuran Tamil
2020
(68th)
dagger
Suriya Nedumaaran Rajangam (Maara) Soorarai Pottru Tamil
Ajay Devgn Tanaji Malusare Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior Hindi

Footnotes

  1. ^ As of 2014, the cash prize is 50,000 (US$630).
  2. ^ Denotes The year in which the film was censored by the Central Board of Film Certification.
  3. ^ The character played by Kamal Haasan was loosely based on the Mumbai-based Tamil gangster Varadarajan Mudaliar.
  4. ^ Mammootty played the real-life character of Vaikom Muhammad Basheer in the film that was based on an autobiographical novel of the same name by Basheer himself .
  5. ^ The character remained unnamed throughout the film.
  6. ^ Vijay played the character of a transgender.
  7. ^ In interviews with The Quint and Hindustan Times, the then-jury chairman Priyadarshan stated that Kumar won the award for Rustom and Airlift, but for technical reasons only one film was mentioned in the list of winners.
  8. ^ Sen played the character of a transgender.

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