The 72nd National Film Awards will be held in Gujarat.
This is a departure from the Delhi-centric tradition.
The I&B Ministry has also stated that the ceremony will now be held all over the country.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has said the National Film Awards will now be hosted in different parts of the country instead of being relegated to Delhi as has been convention for over seven decades. The announcement arrived a day after the ministry said the 72nd National Awards will be held in Gujarat. This has been met with alarm and scepticism.
In a statement, the ministry emphasised, "In a major policy initiative, it has been decided by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to hold National Film Awards in various parts of the country taking beyond National Capital. The ceremony at Ekta Nagar this year will bring together cinematic talent from across India, embodying the spirit of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’."
72nd National Film Award Winners
The 72nd National Film Awards were declared in New Delhi in July. The awards were for films released in 2024, with Article 370 winning Best Feature Film and Yami Gautam being announced as Best Actress for leading the same. Mammootty and Kartik Aaryan shared the Best Actor award. In the non-feature category, Aanand L Rai won Best Direction for Statue of Unity – Ekta ka Prateek.
With the ceremony scheduled for September 22 in Gujarat, the ministry has now suggested that the National Film Awards will hereafter be hosted in different parts of the country, taking the event beyond Delhi after decades of tradition. The earlier site of ceremony used to be Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi, where the President has traditionally presented the awards to the winners. There have been few instances, though, when the ceremony was organised outside the capital.
Now President Droupadi Murmu is supposed to be travelling to Ekta Nagar where the awards will be doled out.
