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2nd National Film Awards

2nd National Film Awards
Awarded forBest of Indian cinema in 1954
Awarded byMinistry of Information and Broadcasting
Presented byRajendra Prasad
(President of India)
Presented on21 December 1955 (1955-12-21)
SiteVigyan Bhavan, New Delhi
Official websitedff.nic.in
Highlights
Best Feature FilmMirza Ghalib
Most awards • Mirza Ghalib
 • Neelakuyil (2)

The 2nd National Film Awards, then known as State Awards for Films, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1954.[1] Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 21 December 1955 and awards were given by then President of India, Rajendra Prasad.

With the increasing number of films made in India, couple of new awards were introduced. Starting with 2nd National Film Awards, awards were divided into feature film and non-feature film awards. Feature films were, again, awarded at All India and Regional level. Awards were given to seven regional language films which are in Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu.

At All India level, Children's films were awarded with its own category where awards were categorised as Prime Minister's gold medal and Certificate of Merit. For all other categories, awards were given as President's gold medal and Certificate of Merit. Regional films were awarded with President's silver medal for Best Feature Film and Certificate of Merit. Non-feature film awards were awarded for documentaries made in the country.

Juries

Three different committees were formed based on the film making sectors in India, mainly based in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. Another committee for all India level was also formed which included some of the members from regional committee. For 2nd National Film Awards, central committee was headed by R. R. Diwakar.[1]

Awards

Awards were divided into feature films and non-feature films.

President's gold medal for the All India Best Feature Film is now better known as National Film Award for Best Feature Film, whereas President's gold medal for the Best Documentary Film is analogous to today's National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film. For children's films, Prime Minister's gold medal is now given as National Film Award for Best Children's Film. At the regional level, President's silver medal for Best Feature Film is now given as National Film Award for Best Feature Film in a particular language. Certificate of Merit in all the categories is discontinued over the years.

Feature films

Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For the 2nd National Film Awards, in this category, Mirza Ghalib, a biographical Hindi / Urdu film, based on the life of well-known poet Mirza Ghalib, along with a Malayalam film, Neelakuyil won the maximum number of awards (two), with former also winning the President's gold medal for the All India Best Feature Film. Following were the awards given:[1]

All India Award

For 2nd National Film Awards, none of the films were awarded from Children's films category as no film was found to be suitable.

Award Film Language Awardee(s)
Producer Director
President's gold medal for the All India Best Feature Film Mirza Ghalib Hindi Minerva Moviestone Sohrab Modi
All India Certificate of Merit Neelakuyil Malayalam Chandrathara Productions P. Bhaskaran
Ramu Kariat
Biraj Bahu Hindi Hiten Chaudhary Productions Bimal Roy

Regional Award

The awards were given to the best films made in the regional languages of India. For 2nd National Film Awards, awards were given in seven regional language films which are in Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu.[1]

Award of Film Awardee(s)
Producer Director
Feature Films in Bengali
President's silver medal for Best Feature Film Chheley Kaar Charan Chitra Chitta Bose
Certificate of Merit Jadu Bhatta Sunrise Film Distributors Niren Lahiri
Annapurnar Mandir Chitra Mandir Naresh Mitra
Feature Films in Hindi
President's silver medal for Best Feature Film Mirza Ghalib Minerva Moviestone Sohrab Modi
Certificate of Merit Jagriti Filmistan Ltd. Satyen Bose
Feature Films in Kannada
Certificate of Merit Bedara Kannappa Gubbi Karnataka Productions H. L. N. Simha
Feature Films in Malayalam
President's silver medal for Best Feature Film Neelakuyil Chandrathara Productions P. Bhaskaran
Ramu Kariat
Certificate of Merit Snehaseema Associate Pictures Dakshina Murthy
Feature Films in Marathi
President's silver medal for Best Feature Film Mahatma Phule Atre Pictures Pralhad Keshav Atre
Feature Films in Tamil
President's silver medal for Best Feature Film Malaikkallan Pakshiraja Studios S. M. Sriramulu Naidu
Certificate of Merit Andha Naal AVM Productions S. Balachander
Edhir Paradhathu Saravanabhava and Unity Pictures C. H. Narayana Moorthy
Feature Films in Telugu
President's silver medal for Best Feature Film Peddamanushulu Vauhini Productions K. V. Reddy
Certificate of Merit Thodu Dongalu National Art Theatres D. Yoganand
Vipra Narayana Bharani Pictures P. S. Ramakrishna Rao

Non-Feature films

Non-feature film awards were given for the documentaries made in the country. Following were the awards given:[1]

Documentaries

Award Film Language Awardee(s)
Producer Director
President's gold medal for the Best Documentary Film Spirit of the Loom English Films Division V. R. Sarma
Certificate of Merit Darjeeling English Films Division K. L. Khandpur
Golden River English Films Division P. V. Pathy

Awards not given

Following awards were not given as no film was found to be suitable for the award:[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "2nd National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.

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