| 59th National Film Awards | |
|---|---|
 59th National Film Awards event logo | |
| Awarded for | Best of Indian cinema in 2011 |
| Awarded by | Directorate of Film Festivals |
| Presented by | Mohammad Hamid Ansari (Vice-President of India) |
| Announced on | 7 March 2012 |
| Presented on | 3 May 2012 |
| Site | Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi |
| Hosted by | Vinay Pathak and Saumya Tandon |
| Official website | dff.nic.in |
| Highlights | |
| Best Feature Film | |
| Best Non-Feature Film | And We Play On |
| Best Book | R. D. Burman: The Man The Music |
| Best Film Critic | Manoj Barpujari |
| Dadasaheb Phalke Award | Soumitra Chatterjee |
| Most awards | • Anhe Ghore Da Daan • Balgandharva • Chillar Party • Deool • Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona • The Dirty Picture (3) |
The 59th National Film Awards, presented by the Directorate of Film Festivals, honoured the best of Indian cinema for 2011 and took place on 3 May 2012 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. Awards were presented in 38 categories in the Feature Films section, 20 categories in the Non-Feature Films section and two categories for the Best Writing on Cinema section; 41 jury members chose the winners from 392 entries. The ceremony was hosted by actors Vinay Pathak and Saumya Tandon. Awards were presented by the Vice-President of India, Mohammad Hamid Ansari. The ceremony was broadcast live on three television channels, eleven All India Radio stations, and webcast live.
Deool, a Marathi film, and Byari, the first and only Beary film, shared the award for the Best Feature Film. The award for the Best Non-Feature Film was given to the Hindi-English documentary And We Play On. The book, R. D. Burman: The Man, The Music, co-authored by Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Balaji Vittal, won the Best Book on Cinema; Assamese film critic Manoj Barpujari was declared the Best Film Critic. Gurvinder Singh won the best feature film direction award for his directorial debut, Anhe Ghore Da Daan. For the film Deool, Girish Kulkarni won the awards for Best Actor and Best Dialogue; Bollywood actress Vidya Balan won the Best Actress award for The Dirty Picture. The Dadasaheb Phalke Award, regarded as the most prestigious recognition in Indian cinema, was given to the veteran Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee for his contribution to Bengali cinema.