The National Film Awards ceremony will take place in Gujarat for the first time on September 22, 2026, with the 72nd edition scheduled in Ekta Nagar. President Droupadi Murmu will present the awards, government officials said on Monday. The move to Ekta Nagar marks a departure from the awards’ traditional venue in Delhi. The first National Film Awards ceremony was organised here in 1954, and Delhi has hosted most of the subsequent ceremonies. The Awards have been presented outside Delhi before – the 17th and 18th editions were held in Madras (now Chennai) in 1970 and 1971, as per reports.

Ekta Nagar, formerly known as Kevadia, is home to the Statue of Unity, the 597-foot monument dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018. The winners of the 72nd National Film Awards, announced in July, include ‘Article 370’ as the best feature film. Yami Gautam has been named as the best actress for her performance in the same film. Mammootty and Kartik Aaryan will share the best actor award for their performances in ‘Bramayugam’ (Malayalam) and ‘Chandu Champion’ (Hindi) respectively. Actor-filmmaker Randeep Hooda has won the best debut director award for ‘Swatantrya Veer Savarkar’, a biographical film on Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ has bagged the award for best popular film providing wholesome entertainment.

The ceremony for the 72nd National Film Awards (NFA) will be held in Gujarat’s Kevadia, a shift from the 72-year-old tradition of the star-studded event taking place at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. An official in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) confirmed the change in the city to HT. To be sure, it isn’t the first time that the NFAs are taking place outside of New Delhi. The ceremony on September 22 will see the winners of this year’s NFA receive their honours, with President of India Droupadi Murmu scheduled to present the awards to the recipients. The winners were announced on July 18 by the respective jury chairpersons at a press conference in New Delhi.

Article 370 was named “Best Feature Film”, while Yami Gautam won “Best Actress in a Leading Role” for the same film. Mammootty and Kartik Aaryan shared the “Best Actor in a Leading Role” award for their performances in Bramayugam and Chandu Champion respectively. Rajkumar Periasamy won “Best Direction” for the Tamil-language war drama Amaran, while Randeep Hooda was named “Best Debut Director” for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar. Kalki 2898 AD won “Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment”, while Captain Miller was recognised as the “Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social and Environmental Values”.

Veteran actor Sanjay Mishra won “Best Supporting Actor” for Bhakshak, while Sachana Namidass and Ropashree Varkady shared the “Best Supporting Actress” award for Maharaja and Mithya, respectively. Among other major winners, Pushpa: The Rule Part-02 won “Best Screenplay (Original)” and “Best Costume Design”, Stree 2 won “Best Choreography”, and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 won “Best Sound Design”. Maharaja won “Best Action Direction” and Kalki 2898 AD “Best Production Design”.