National Film Award for Best Kannada Feature Film

National Film Award for Best Kannada Feature Film
National Film Award for Best Kannada Feature Film
National award for contributions to Indian Cinema
Awarded for	Best Kannada feature film of the year
Sponsored by	National Film Development Corporation of India
Formerly called	President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Kannada (1954–1968); National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada (1969–2021)
Reward(s)	Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus); ₹2,00,000;
First awarded	1954
Last awarded	2022
Most recent winner	KGF: Chapter 2
Highlights
Total awarded	72
First winner	Bedara Kannappa

The National Film Award for Best Kannada Feature Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus). Since the 70th National Film Awards, the name was changed to "Best Kannada Feature Film".^[1]

The National Film Awards, established in 1954, are the most prominent film awards in India that merit the best of the Indian cinema. The ceremony also presents awards for films in various regional languages.

Awards for films in seven regional language (Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu) started from 2nd National Film Awards which were presented on 21 December 1955.^[2] Three awards of "President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film", "Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature Film" and "Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature Film" were instituted. The latter two certificate awards were discontinued from 15th National Film Awards (1967).

Directed by H. L. N. Simha, the 1954 film Bedara Kannappa, received the first Certificate of Merit. The film was based on the folktale of the hunter Kannappa who proves his extreme devotion to Lord Shiva by plucking out both of his eyes. However, the first "President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Kannada" was only awarded at the 5th National Film Awards ceremony held on 16 April 1958 to the 1957 film Premada Puthri.^[3] The film was directed by R. Nagendra Rao and produced under his banner R. N. R. Pictures. Following is the list of Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal) recipient films produced in Kannada language.

^ 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 28 August 2024.
^ "2nd National Film Awards" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
^ "5th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2011.

[1] 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 28 August 2024.

[2ndawardPDF-2] "2nd National Film Awards" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2011.

[5thawardPDF-3] "5th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2011.

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