In Brief:
- Best Actor joint winners: Malayalam actor Mammootty won his fourth Best Actor trophy for Bramayugam, sharing the award with first-time winner Kartik Aaryan for Chandu Champion.
- Best Actress and Feature Film: Yami Gautam won Best Actress for Article 370, which also secured the award for Best Feature Film.
- Historical venue shift: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting held the ceremony at Kevadia's Statue of Unity complex, departing from its traditional venue at New Delhi's Vigyan Bhawan.
President Droupadi Murmu conferred the 72nd National Film Awards on September 22, 2026, during a ceremony held at Ekta Nagar in Kevadia, Gujarat. In the acting categories, Mammootty received the Best Actor award for his performance in the Malayalam-language film Bramayugam, earning the fourth National Award of his career. He shared the honor with Kartik Aaryan, who won his first National Award for starring in the biographical sports drama Chandu Champion. Yami Gautam received the Best Actress award for her role in Article 370, which additionally won the Best Feature Film title.
The event marked the first instance since 1971 that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting hosted the National Film Awards outside New Delhi, shifting the location from Vigyan Bhawan to the Statue of Unity precinct. Among other major categories, veteran actor Anant Nag received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for lifetime achievement, Rajkumar Periasamy won Best Director for Amaran, and Randeep Hooda won Best Debut Director for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar.
