President Murmu presented the awards to the winners in categories including feature and non-feature films, language films, biopics and documentaries.

Veteran actor Anant Nag, who was accompanied by his wife Gayatri, received the country’s highest film honour, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

Actor Yami Gautam and her filmmaker husband Aditya Dhar received the award for Best Feature Film for ‘Article 370’.

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Among the awarded films were one on the life of Veer Savarkar in which Randeep Hooda plays the main protagonist, and one on the making of the Statue of Unity.

President Murmu noted that “many women were among the awardees”, and said, “I would wish that every regional jury ensures the participation of women, I saw that many women got recognised for their films today; therefore, there should be more women on the jury.

“In any field, only when the perspective of women is included does it create a vision for entire humanity,” the President said.

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She said successful film artists and the roles they played were emulated by “crores of children and youth”, and appealed to artists not to “endorse substances that are harmful to health”.

“Star wahi hai jo roshni deta hai, star wahi hai jo roshni phailaay,” the President said.

Ravi Raj Murmu, director of the Santali-language film ‘Angen’ receives the award for the Best Debut Non-Feature Film of a Director from President Droupadi Murmu.

The President also mentioned the first Santali film to have won an award in the 72nd edition of the Awards. ‘Angen’ (Invisible), has been directed by Ravi Raj Murmu, a filmmaker from Jharkhand.

President Murmu, who is herself Santali, said, “With this film, not only a brilliant film gets a boost but also our cultural diversity and social inclusivity.” The short film was recognised for “transforming folklore into cinematic poetry”.

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The President also appealed to those in the film industry to “give respect and social security” to the smallest labourers and artists contributing to the “creative economy”.

This is the first time that the National Film Awards ceremony has been held outside Delhi.

Union Minister for Railways and Information & Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw said taking the film awards to destinations outside of the national capital was modelled after the G20, which was held across states and Union Territories. “That was an example of the way in which our country’s rich and diverse cultural heritage can be showcased,” the Minister said.

Vaishnaw invited states and Union territories to select important tourist destinations where the next ceremony could be hosted, suggesting that holding the ceremony outside the national capital is set to become a trend.

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“We have gathered at the world’s tallest statue, which gives a huge opportunity to the film world to come and experience this beautiful place, the heritage and the historic events that happened in our country when the British were thrown out,” he said.

“I am giving a call to all states and Union Territories to select one of the most important  tourist destinations in your state and Union Territory and tell us what improvements you will make in them, and then your destination will be selected where the NFA will be held. This way, we will be able to visit some of the most important tourist destinations in our country,” the Minister said, adding that the presence of film stars at these places would promote them.

Among the other stars present at the ceremony were Mammootty (Best Actor for Malayalam film ‘Brahmayugam’), Kartik Aaryan for Hindi film ‘Chandu Champion’, and Dhanush for the Tamil film ‘Raayan’.

‘Bhangaar’ won the award for the Best Non-Feature Film, and ‘Ramnami’ for Best Documentary.

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Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel invited filmmakers to come to Gujarat, and mentioned the only Gujarati film to get an award: ‘Maaran’ (Kill) directed by Ahmedabad-based Abhishek Jain.

Governor Acharya Devvrat noted that films were a way to take the world out of “stress and depression”.