National Award for Best Actor
| National Film Award for Best Actor | |
|---|---|
| Awarded by Directorate of Film Festivals | |
| Type | National |
| Category | Indian Cinema |
| Description | |
| Description | Best Performance by an Actor |
| Medal | Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus) |
| Statistics | |
| Instituted | 1967 |
| First awarded | 1967 |
| Last awarded | 2016 |
| Total awarded | 54 |
| Cash award | ₹50,000 (US$780) |
| Previous name(s) | Bharat Award (1968–74) |
| First awardee(s) | Uttam Kumar |
| Recent awardee(s) | Akshay Kumar |
The National Film Award for Best Actor, officially known as the Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actor (Hindi pronunciation: [rədʒət̪ kəməl]), is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India instituted only since 1967 to actors who have delivered the best performance in a leading role within the Indian film industry. Called the "State Awards for Films" when established in 1954, the National Film Awards ceremony is older than the Directorate of Film Festivals. The State Awards instituted the individual award in 1968 as the "Bharat Award for the Best Actor"; in 1975, it was renamed as the "Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actor". Throughout the past 45 years, accounting for ties and repeat winners, the Government of India has presented a total of 52 "Best Actor" awards to 40 actors. 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.
Although the Indian film industry produces films in around 20 languages and dialects, the actors whose performances have won awards have worked in seven major languages: Hindi (twenty-two awards), Malayalam (thirteen awards), Tamil (seven awards), Bengali (four awards), Marathi (three awards), Kannada (three awards) and English (two awards).
The first recipient was Uttam Kumar from Bengali cinema, who was honoured at the 15th National Film Awards in 1968 for his performances in Anthony Firingee and Chiriyakhana. As of 2017, Amitabh Bachchan is the most honoured actor, with four awards. Two actors—Kamal Haasan and Mammootty—have been honoured three times, while six actors—Sanjeev Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty, Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Mohanlal, and Ajay Devgn—have won the award two times. Two actors have achieved the honour for performing in two languages—Mithun Chakraborty (Hindi and Bengali) and Mammootty (Malayalam and English). The most recent recipient is Akshay Kumar, who was honoured at the 64th National Film Awards for his performance in the 2016 Hindi film Rustom.
...
Wikipedia