3rd National Film Awards

3rd National Film Awards
Awarded forBest of Indian cinema in 1955
Awarded byMinistry of Information and Broadcasting
Presented byJawaharlal Nehru
(Prime Minister of India)
Presented onSeptember 1956 (1956-09)
SiteVigyan Bhavan, New Delhi
Official websitedff.nic.in
Highlights
Best Feature FilmPather Panchali
Most awards • Pather Panchali
 • Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje (2)

The 3rd National Film Awards, then known as State Awards for Films, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1955.[1] Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi in September 1956 and awards were given by Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru.

Juries

Three different committees were formed based on the film making sectors in India, mainly based in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. Another committee for all India level was also formed which included some of the members from regional committee. For 3rd National Film Awards, central committee was headed by C. D. Deshmukh.[1]

Awards

Awards were divided into feature films and non-feature films.

President's gold medal for the All India Best Feature Film is now better known as National Film Award for Best Feature Film, whereas President's gold medal for the Best Documentary Film is analogous to today's National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film. For children's films, Prime Minister's gold medal is now given as National Film Award for Best Children's Film. At the regional level, President's silver medal for Best Feature Film is now given as National Film Award for Best Feature Film in a particular language. Certificate of Merit in all the categories is discontinued over the years.

Feature films

Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For 3rd National Film Awards, Pather Panchali, a Bengali film by a debutant director Satyajit Ray won the President's gold medal for the All India Best Feature Film. Following were the awards given:[1]

All India Award

For 3rd National Film Awards, none of the films were awarded from Children's films category as no film was found to be suitable.

Award Film Language Awardee(s)
Producer Director
President's gold medal for the All India Best Feature Film Pather Panchali Bengali Government of West Bengal Satyajit Ray
All India Certificate of Merit Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje Hindi Rajkamal Kalamandir V. Shantaram
Shirdi Che Sai Baba Marathi Nandadeep chitra Kumarsen Samarth

Regional Award

With 3rd National Film Awards, new award category was introduced for the feature films made in Assamese language. This newly introduced category includes President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Assamese and Certificate of Merit for second and third best film, although former was not given as no film was found suitable for the award.[1]

The awards were given to the best films made in the regional languages of India. For 3rd National Film Awards, President's silver medal for Best Feature Film was not given in Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, Kannada and Tamil language; instead Certificate of Merit was awarded in each particular language.[1]

Award Film Awardee(s)
Producer Director
Feature Films in Assamese
Certificate of Merit Piyali Phukan Rupajyoti Productions Phani Sarma
Feature Films in Bengali
President's silver medal for Best Feature Film Pather Panchali Government of West Bengal Satyajit Ray
Certificate of Merit Rani Rashmoni Chalachitra Pratishthan Kali Prasad Ghosh
Rai Kamal Aurora Films Corporation Subodh Mitra
Feature Films in Hindi
President's silver medal for Best Feature Film Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje Rajkamal Kalamandir V. Shantaram
Certificate of Merit Shree 420 R. K. Films Raj Kapoor
Devdas Bimal Roy Productions Bimal Roy
Feature Films in Kannada
Certificate of Merit Mahakavi Kalidasa Lalitakala Film Private Ltd. Honnappa Bhagavatar
Feature Films in Marathi
President's silver medal for Best Feature Film Me Tulas Tujhya Angani Nav Chitra Raja Thakur
Certificate of Merit Shevagyachya Shenga Sadashiv Row J. Kavi Shantaram Athavale
Feature Films in Tamil
Certificate of Merit Mangaiyar Thilakam Vaidya Films L. V. Prasad
Feature Films in Telugu
President's silver medal for Best Feature Film Bangaru Papa Vauhini Productions B. N. Reddy
Certificate of Merit Ardhangi Ragini Films P. Pullaiah

Non-Feature films

Non-feature film awards were given for the documentaries made in the country. Following were the awards given:[1]

Documentaries

Award Film Language Awardee(s)
Producer Director
President's gold medal for the Best Documentary Film Magic of Mountains English Films Division Mushir Ahmed
Certificate of Merit Wonder of Work English Films Division
Education for Life English Ama Ltd.

Awards not given

Following were the awards not given as no film was found to be suitable for the award:[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "3rd National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2020.