The National Film Awards are one of the oldest and prominent Indian award ceremony established in 1954. Since 1973, the award ceremonies are administrated by the Indian government’s Directorate of Film Festivals. The country's most prestigious film awards are held every year in New Delhi and the awards are presented by the President of India to the winners for the year. The Best Film Award is one of the sub-categories of the Golden Lotus Award. The winners are honored with a cash prize of Rs.1, 00,000 and a Swarna Kamal (golden lotus). The awards for the ‘Best Film’ were introduced in 1954 and the award was presented to the film ‘Shyamchi Aai’ directed by P.K.Atre. The movie is based on the book written by the famous author and social activist, Sane Guruji. ‘Shyamachi Aai’ is considered as one of the greatest tributes to a mother’s love in Marathi literature. 

Golden Lotus Award Winners For Best Film Are:

Year
Film
Language
Director
2009
Antaheen
Bengali
Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury
2008
Kanchivaram
Tamil
Priyadarshan
2007
Pulijanmam
Malayalam
Priyanandan
2006
Kaalpurush – Memories in the Mist
Bengali
Budhdhadeb Dasgupta
2005
Page 3
Hindi/English
Madhur Bhandarkar
2004
Shwaas
Marathi
Sandeep Sawant
2003
Mondo Meyer Upakhyan
Bengali
Budhdhadeb Dasgupta
2002
Dweepa
Kannada
Girish Kasaravalli
2001
Shantham
Malayalam
Jayaraaj
2000
Vaanaprastham
Malayalam (France/India/Germany)
Shaji N. Karun
1999
Samar
Hindi
Shyam Benegal
1998
Thaayi Saheba
Kannada
Girish Kasaravalli
1997
Lal Darja
Bengali
Budhdhadeb Dasgupta
1996
Kathapurushan
Malayalam (India/Japan)
Adoor Gopalakrishnan
1995
Unishe April
Bengali
Rituparno Ghosh
1994
Charachar
Bengali
Budhdhadeb Dasgupta
1993
Bhagwat Geeta
Sanskrit
G V Iyer
1992
Agantuk
Bengali (France/India)
Satyajit Ray
1991
Marupakkam
Tamil
K.S. Sethumadhavan
1990
Bagh Bahadur
Hindi/Bengali
Budhdhadeb Dasgupta
1989
Piravi
Malayalam
Shaji N. Karun
1988
Halodhia Choraye Baodhan Khai
Assamese
Jahnu Barua
1987
Tabarana Kathe
Kannada
Girish Kasaravalli
1986
Chidambaram
Malayalam
Govindan Aravindan
1985
Damul
Hindi
Prakash Jha
1984
Adi Shankaracharya
Sanskrit
G V Iyer
1983
Chokh
Bengali
Utpalendu Chakrabarty
1982
Dakhal
Bengali
Gautam Ghose
1981
Akaler Sandhane
Bengali
Mrinal Sen
1980
Shodh
Hindi
Biplab Roy Choudhary
1979
no award
-
-
1978
Ghatashraddha
Kannada
Girish Kasaravalli
1977
Mrigayaa
Hindi
Mrinal Sen
1976
Chomana Dudi
Kannada
B.V. Karanth
1975
Chorus
Hindi/Bengali
Mrinal Sen
1974
Nirmalyam
Malayalam
M.T. Vasudevan Nair
1973
Swayamvaram
Malayalam
Adoor Gopalakrishnan
1972
Seemabaddha
Bengali
Satyajit Ray
1971
Samskara
Kannada
Pattabhi Rama Reddy
1970
Bhuvan Shome
Hindi
Mrinal Sen
1969
Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne
Bengali
Satyajit Ray
1968
Hatey Bazarey
Bengali/Hindi
Tapan Sinha
1967
Teesri Kasam
Hindi
Basu Bhattacharya
1966
Chemmeen
Malayalam
Ramu Kariat
1965
Charulata
Bengali
Satyajit Ray
1964
Shehar Aur Sapna
Hindi
Khwaja Ahmad Abbas
1963
Dada Thakur
Bengali
Sudhir Mukherjee
1962
Bhagini Nivedita
Bengali
Bijoy Bose
1961
Anuradha
Hindi
Hrishikesh Mukherjee
1960
Apur Sansar
Bengali
Satyajit Ray
1959
Sagar Sangamey
Bengali
Debaki Bose
1958
Do Aankhen Barah Haath
Hindi
V. Shantaram
1957
Kabuliwala
Bengali
Tapan Sinha
1956
Pather Panchali
Bengali
Satyajit Ray
1955
Mirza Ghalib
Hindi
Sohrab Modi
1954
Shyamchi Aai
Marathi
P.K.Atre