72nd National Film Awards to Be Held in Gujarat on September 22, President Droupadi Murmu to Present Honours

72nd National Film Awards to Make a Historic Move to Gujarat

The 72nd National Film Awards ceremony is set to take place in Ekta Nagar, Gujarat, on September 22, 2026, marking a significant departure from the event's long association with New Delhi. President Droupadi Murmu will present the honours to the award recipients, according to an official announcement issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on September 8.

The ceremony will recognise outstanding achievements in Indian cinema for the year 2024, bringing together filmmakers, actors, technicians and other artists from across the country.

The location is particularly notable because Ekta Nagar, formerly known as Kevadia, is home to the Statue of Unity. The decision places one of India's most prestigious cinematic ceremonies in a location that has increasingly become an important national tourism and cultural destination.

Why the Gujarat Venue Matters

For more than seven decades, the National Film Awards have largely been associated with New Delhi. The awards were instituted in 1954, and the national capital has hosted the ceremony for most of its history.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has now described the move as part of a policy initiative to organise the National Film Awards at different locations across the country rather than keeping the ceremony confined to the national capital.

There is, however, an important historical qualification: Gujarat is not simply the first place outside Delhi to host a National Film Awards ceremony. Historical records cited by multiple reports note that the 17th National Film Awards were presented in Chennai in 1971. What makes the 2026 edition significant is the decision to take the ceremony outside the capital after its long-standing Delhi tradition.

That distinction matters because the Gujarat event represents a change in how the national cinema honours are staged, rather than an entirely unprecedented departure from holding the awards outside Delhi.

92 Award Recipients to Be Honoured

The 72nd National Film Awards were announced in July 2026 after juries evaluated films and other entries associated with the 2024 eligibility period.

Among the headline winners are Article 370, which was named Best Feature Film, while Yami Gautam received the Best Actress in a Leading Role award for the same film.

The Best Actor in a Leading Role honour was shared by Mammootty for Bramayugam and Kartik Aaryan for Chandu Champion. Randeep Hooda was recognised for Best Debut Film of a Director for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar.

The winners also reflect the breadth of Indian cinema. Major awards went to films including Kalki 2898 AD, Amaran, Pushpa: The Rule Part-02, Stree 2 and Captain Miller, while the regional-language categories recognised films from several parts of India.

The official announcement also highlighted recognition across languages and cinematic forms, underlining the National Film Awards' broader role in representing India's multilingual film culture.

A Special Connection With the Statue of Unity

The choice of Ekta Nagar carries an additional cinematic connection this year.

The non-feature film Statue of Unity - Ekta ka Prateek  won the National Film Award for Best Direction, with filmmaker Aanand L Rai receiving the honour. The film's subject and the physical setting of this year's ceremony therefore create an unusual link between the award-winning work and the location where the honours will be presented.

Reports on the event preparations indicate that a temporary venue is being constructed in the Statue of Unity complex. The arrangement is expected to accommodate around 1,000 guests, with facilities for security, protocol and other requirements associated with a national-level ceremony.

What the Ceremony Represents for Indian Cinema

The National Film Awards have traditionally served a different purpose from commercially driven entertainment awards. Their recognition covers feature films, non-feature films and writing on cinema, allowing attention to extend beyond mainstream box-office success to artistic, technical, regional and documentary filmmaking.

The 72nd edition continues that broader approach. The winners' list includes commercially successful productions alongside regional films, documentaries, animation and non-feature projects.

The decision to take the ceremony to Gujarat also potentially changes the relationship between the awards and the wider country. Instead of the event being physically tied to the national capital, future editions could provide different states and cultural centres with an opportunity to host the country's highest-profile cinematic honours.

For the 2026 edition, that shift is especially visible because the ceremony will be held in the shadow of one of India's most recognisable landmarks.

The Celebrity Hour Take

The Gujarat venue gives this year's National Film Awards a stronger geographical identity than usual. The ceremony is not merely moving from one auditorium to another; it is being placed at a major national landmark while the award list itself includes recognition for a film centred on that landmark.

More importantly, the move signals an effort to make a national cinema institution less Delhi-centric. The real significance will depend on whether this becomes a continuing practice in future editions, but the 72nd National Film Awards clearly establishes Gujarat as the setting for a new chapter in the ceremony's presentation.

With the winners already announced, the September 22 ceremony will shift the focus from who won to the moment those honours are formally presented by the President of India.

Sources & Verification

This report was prepared using the official Ministry of Information and Broadcasting/Press Information Bureau announcement confirming the September 22 ceremony and its Ekta Nagar venue, along with the ministry's official July announcement of the 72nd National Film Awards winners. Historical and logistical details were cross-checked against established Indian news coverage.