| National Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role | |
|---|---|
  The 2022 recipients: Nithya Menen and Manasi Parekh | |
| Awarded for | Best performance by an actress in a leading role |
| Sponsored by | National Film Development Corporation of India |
| Formerly called | Urvashi Award (1967–1973) National Film Award for Best Actress (1974–2021) |
| Reward(s) |
|
| First awarded | 1967 |
| Last awarded | 2022 |
| Most recent winner | Nithya Menen for Thiruchitrambalam and Manasi Parekh for Kutch Express |
| Highlights | |
| Most awards | Shabana Azmi (5 awards) |
| Total awarded | 56 |
| First winner | Nargis Dutt |
| Website | http://dff.nic.in/NFA.aspx  |
The National Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India since 1968 to an actress for the best performance in a leading role within the Indian film industry.[1][2] The National Film Awards were called the "State Awards for Films" when established in 1954. The State Awards instituted the "Best Actress" category in 1968 as the "Urvashi Award for the Best Actress";[1][3][4] in 1975, the Urvashi Award was renamed as the "Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actress". Throughout the years, accounting for ties and repeat winners, the Government of India has presented a total of 56 Best Actress awards to 45 different actresses. Since the 70th National Film Awards, the name was changed to "National Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role".[5]
Until 1974, winners of the National Film Award received a figurine and certificate; since 1975, they have been awarded with a "Rajat Kamal" (silver lotus), certificate and a cash prize that amounted to ₹2 lakh (US$2,400) in the 70th edition.[5][3] Although the Indian film industry produces films in more than 20 languages and dialects,[6] the actresses whose performances have won awards have worked in eleven major languages: Hindi (22 awards),Tamil (8 awards), Bengali (7 awards), Malayalam (6 awards), Telugu (4 awards), Kannada (3 awards), English (3 awards), Marathi (2 awards), Assamese (one award),Gujarati (one award) and Urdu (one award).
The first recipient was Nargis Dutt from Hindi cinema, who was honoured at the 15th National Film Awards (1967) for her performance in Raat Aur Din.[7] The actress who won the most Rajat Kamal awards is Shabana Azmi with five wins,[8] followed by Sharada and Kangana Ranaut with three wins. As of 2021, four actresses—Smita Patil, Archana, Shobana, and Tabu who have won the award two times. Sharada, Archana and Shobana are the only three actresses to get the award for performing in two different languages. Sharada was bestowed with the awards for her performances in two Malayalam films: Thulabharam and Swayamvaram in 1968 and 1972 respectively, and in 1978 for the Telugu film Nimajjanam. Archana was first honoured in 1987 for the Tamil film Veedu and was awarded for the second time in 1988 for the Telugu film Daasi. Shobana received her first award for the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu in 1993, and her second for the English film Mitr, My Friend in 2001. As of 2020, the late Monisha Unni remains the youngest recipient of the honour; she was awarded for the Malayalam film Nakhakshathangal in 1986 when she was 16.[9][10] Indrani Haldar and Rituparna Sengupta are the only two actresses to be honoured for the same film—Dahan. Kangana Ranaut is the only actress to be honoured for her performance in two different films (Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi and Panga) in the same year. Sridevi is the only actress who was honoured posthumously for her performance in Mom (2017).[11] The most recent recipient are Nithya Menen and Manasi Parekh, who were honoured at the 70th National Film Awards for their performances in the 2022 Tamil film Thiruchitrambalam and the 2022 Gujarati film Kutch Express respectively.
- ^ a b Sabharwal, Gopa (2007). India Since 1947: The Independent Years. India: Penguin Books. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-14-310274-8.
- ^ "About National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived from the original on 25 October 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
- ^ a b "21st National Awards For Films (1974)" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. p. 17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
- ^ "22nd National Film Festival (1975)" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
- ^ a b Under Secretary to the Government of India (14 December 2023). "Report on Rationalization of Awards Conferred by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting | Ministry of Information and Broadcasting | Government of India". Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
- ^ "Central Board of Film Certification – Annual Report 2011" (PDF). Central Board of Film Certification. p. 33. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
- ^ "National Awards for Films – 1967 – Nargis Dutt" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. 25 November 1968. p. 29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2011.
- ^ Nagarajan, Saraswathy (18 December 2004). "Coffee break with Shabana Azmi". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 June 2012.
- ^ "34th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. p. 27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
- ^ Bharathan, Hemjit (27 October 2008). "Grit to conquer grief". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012.
- ^ "National Film Awards: Sridevi Honoured Posthumously; Boney Kapoor Remembers His Wife, Wishes She Was Here". News18 India. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2021.