29th National Film Awards

The 29th 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 1981. Ceremony took place in April 1982.

With 29th National Film Awards, new category for books on Indian cinema was introduced. The awards aim at the encouraging the 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
Three different committees were formed for feature films, short films and books on cinema, headed by veteran actor Ashok Kumar, Vasant Joglekar and Asok Mitra respectively.


 * Jury Members: Feature Films
 * Ashok Kumar (Chairperson) • B. A. Arasukumar • Leela Chitnis • B. R. Chopra • Salil Chowdhury • Suresh Kathuria • Yamini Krishnamurthy • R. Lakshman • Dnyaneshwar Kulkarni • Bhabendra Nath Saikia • M. Shamim • Sundari K. Shridharani • S. G. Vasudev • Inturi Venkateswara Rao
 * Jury Members: Short Films
 * Vasant Joglekar (Chairperson) • Harisadhan Dasgupta • Jagat Murari • Ramesh Sharma
 * Jury Members: Books on Cinema
 * Asok Mitra (Chairperson) • P. V. Akilandan • Chidananda Dasgupta • Sunil Gangopadhyay • Pritish Nandy • P. Padmarajan • Na. Parthasarathy • M. T. Vasudevan Nair

Awards
Awards were divided into feature films, non-feature films and books written on Indian cinema.

Feature films
Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For 29th National Film Awards, a Bengali film, Dakhal won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film whereas a Hindi film, Umrao Jaan won the maximum number of awards (four). In the honour of veteran actress Nargis Dutt who died in 1981, award for best feature film on national integration was renamed as Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration. Following were the awards given in each category:

All India Award
Following were the awards given:

Regional Award
The awards were given to the best films made in the regional languages of India. For feature films in Assamese, Gujarati, Kashmiri and Punjabi language, award for Best Feature Film was not given.

Non-Feature films
Following were the awards given:

Best Writing on Cinema
With 29th National Film Awards, new category for books on Indian cinema was introduced. The awards aim at the encouraging the 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. Following were the awards given:

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


 * Best Children's Film
 * Best Film on Family Welfare
 * Best Lyrics
 * Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment
 * Best Film on Social Documentation
 * Best Experimental Film
 * Best Newsreel Cameraman
 * Best Feature Film in Assamese
 * Best Feature Film in Punjabi