Kartik Aaryan, Yami Gautam Win National Awards

The 72nd National Film Awards, held on Sept. 22 at Ekta Nagar in Gujarat, gave Hindi cinema two of its biggest acting prizes. Kartik Aaryan shared Best Actor for Chandu Champion, and Yami Gautam won Best Actress for Article 370. The Indian Express reports that Gautam received her first National Film Award.

The ceremony

President Droupadi Murmu conferred the awards at the Statue of Unity in Narmada district, the first time the ceremony has been held outside the capital. The awards honour films of 2024. The Press Information Bureau said future editions will travel to different states and cities.

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award went to Kannada actor Anant Nag, who has appeared in more than 300 films over five decades. Malayalam star Mammootty won his fourth Best Actor award for Bramayugam, tying Amitabh Bachchan for the most wins in the category. He shares the prize this year with Aaryan.

The main winners

Article 370, directed by Aditya Suhas Jambhale, won Best Feature Film. Rajkumar Periasamy won Best Direction for Amaran. Sanjay Mishra won a best supporting actor award for Bhakshak, alongside Sachana Namidass for Maharaja and Ropashree Varkady for Mithya. Randeep Hooda took Best Debut Film of a Director for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar. Nag Ashwin's Kalki 2898 AD won Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, and Aanand L Rai won Best Direction in the non-feature category for Statue of Unity: Ekta ka Prateek.

What the winners said

Gautam told the media, "I am still trying to soak in this moment. It's a great matter of pride and honour for any film artiste who has worked all their life. There is still a lot left for me to learn in my journey, but receiving such a prestigious honour in itself, and at such a historic place, is truly special."

Aditya Dhar, a co-producer of Article 370, was asked on the red carpet about his film Dhurandhar and deflected. He said, "We are here for Article 370. We will discuss Dhurandhar, hopefully, if we come next year also, but today it's all about Article 370."

Why Aaryan's win matters

Chandu Champion was a sports biopic, and Aaryan's award is a recognition outside the comedy and romance films he is most known for. The Indian Express reports him as one of two Best Actor winners. We have not found a quote from him from the ceremony in the coverage we reviewed, so we are not putting words in his mouth.

A month on

Gautam's latest film, Nayyi Navelli, opened this week to mixed to poor reviews, which makes the award a counterweight. Rajkummar Rao's Prahaar, another film built around a real-life figure, also released. Both contrast with the awards-circuit prestige of films like Article 370 and Chandu Champion.

What we could not confirm

We could not confirm Aaryan's remarks at the ceremony, and the Indian Express live blog we used does not include one. We have not independently checked the full winners list against the official Directorate of Film Festivals release, and we list only categories reported by the Indian Express. The Press Information Bureau page on the ceremony was listed in search results but we did not review its contents in full.

Sources

*Cover photo: Segolene Liger, Wikimedia Commons, *[*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kartik_Aaryan_at_the_Red_Sea_International_Film_Festival_2025_2.jpg*](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kartik_Aaryan_at_the_Red_Sea_International_Film_Festival_2025_2.jpg)* (CC BY-SA 4.0).*