Actor Kartik Aaryan will be getting his first National Film Award at Tuesday’s 72nd NFAs held in Ekta Nagar at Kevadia, Gujarat for his performance in Chandu Champion. It was handed to the actor by President Droupadi Murmu.
Malayalam superstar Mammootty starring in Bramayugam was also given Best Actor in a Leading Role with Kartik Aaryan. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on July 18, 2026 announced the winners of the films certified in 2024.
The ceremony was significant for taking place outside New Delhi for the first time. The presentation of National Film Awards has been traditionally made at Vigyan Bhawan in the national capital, but this year, the 72nd edition took place at Ekta Nagar in Gujarat in the vicinity of the Statue of Unity. Future editions will also take place in other states and cities that were announced by the government.
Kartik, in advance of the event, posted a photo of himself in front of the Statue of Unity, the world’s tallest statue of Sardar vallabhbhai Patel set up in Gujarat.
The 72nd National Film Awards honored feature films, non-feature films and writing on cinema. Yami Gautam, alongside Kartik and Mammootty, walked away with the Best Actress award and Article 370 was bagged for Best Feature Film. Rajkumar Periasamy got the award for Best Direction (Amaran) and Randeep Hooda was recognized for his debut directorial work on Swatantrya Veer Savarkar.
The awards jury consisted of different sections for featuring films, non-featuring and for writing on cinema with Director Jayaraj as Chairperson of Feature film Jury.