The 52nd National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 2004.
The selection process of 52nd National Film Awards began with the constitution of three Juries for feature film, non-feature film and best writing on cinema sections. The renowned filmmaker Sudhir Mishra headed the feature film Jury, which had sixteen other members. Cinematographer and Director A. K. Bir headed the seven-member non-feature film Jury. The Jury for best writing on cinema was headed by veteran film critic and former editor of Screen and Filmfare from Mumbai, Rauf Ahmed.
Awards were announced by each committee chairpersons on 13 July 2005. Award ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 21 October 2005 and awards were given by then President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.
For 52nd National Film Awards, 107 feature films participated along with 118 non-feature films and 22 books on cinema in 9 Indian languages.
Awards
Awards were divided into feature films, non-feature films and books written on Indian cinema.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Feature films
Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For 52nd National Film Awards, a Hindi film, Page 3 won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film also winning the maximum number of awards (3), along with a Tamil film, Autograph. Following were the awards given in each category:
Juries
A committee headed by Sudhir Mishra was appointed to evaluate the feature films awards. Following were the jury members:
Jury Members
Sudhir Mishra (Chairperson)Preeti SagarVanisriSatabdi RoyL. VaidyanathanSandeep SawantSubhadro ChaudhuryChandi Mukherjee Sharad DuttBhajan SoporiT. S. NagabharanaNagesh KukunoorRanjeet DasM. SanjeevM. MohanVinod GanatraVasantha S. M. A.
All India Award
Following were the awards given:
Golden Lotus Award
Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
Silver Lotus Award
Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
Regional Awards
The award is given to best film in the regional languages in India.
Best Feature Film in Each of the Language Other Than Those Specified in the Schedule VIII of the Constitution
Non-Feature Films
Short Films made in any Indian language and certified by the Central Board of Film Certification as a documentary/newsreel/fiction are eligible for non-feature film section.
Juries
A committee headed by A. K. Bir was appointed to evaluate the non-feature films awards. Following were the jury members:
Jury Members
A. K. Bir (Chairperson)Kadambari ChintamaniVasiraju PrakasamSudhish GopalakrishnanSupriyo SenPrasann Jain Pushpesh Pant
Golden Lotus Award
Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize.
Silver Lotus Award
Official Name: Rajat Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Silver Lotus Award (Rajat Kamal)' and cash prize.
Best Writing on Cinema
The awards aim at encouraging study and appreciation of cinema as an art form and dissemination of information and critical appreciation of this art-form through publication of books, articles, reviews etc.
Juries
A committee headed by Rauf Ahmed was appointed to evaluate the writing on Indian cinema. Following were the jury members:
Jury Members
Rauf Ahmed (Chairperson)Utpal BorpujariShoma A. Chatterji
Golden Lotus Award
Official Name: Swarna Kamal
All the awardees are awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)' and cash prize.
Awards not given
Following were the awards not given as no film was found to be suitable for the award: