National Film Award For Best Direction - Winners

For its courageous and uncompromising exploration of an ancient epic through a pronouncedly new cinematic language, for making the camera speak more eloquently than the introspective characters of the Ramayana, for projecting the interior landscape of the protagonists against the vast backdrop of nature, for matching profound philosophical ideas with astonishing evocations of the beauties of the physical world.

For creating a truly director's film which effectively brings out the pathos and ennui in the life of village circus artists and their audience.

For exploring the inevitable conflict between urban and rural cultures, for displaying in almost every sequence masterly handling and complete command over the medium.

For effectively orchestrating the creative and technical elements in her first film, for a poignant portrayal of loneliness in old age and for bringing to the screen a true-to-life situation in post-independence India.

For his merciless expose of several aspects of social injustice with admirable command over his medium.

For its subtle blending of nostalgia and contemporary social comment and the powerful visual exploration of the theme.

For the masterly treatment of an unusual story which, through subtle and sensitive handling, brings out the conflicts in a family trapped in strange memories and situations.

For his masterly and powerful depiction of changing society reeling under the onslaught of technical progress.

For the exceptional mastery of the craft in dealing with a very complex and unusual subject for the cinema.

For remarkable success in accomplishing fusion of various elements and creating new heights of cinematic aesthetics.

For successfully capturing the spirit of the short story on his prison days by the celebrated writer Vaikkom Mohammed Basheer.

For having presented a contemporary problem with courage, subtlety and finesse.

For the outstanding craftsmanship and the command over the language of cinema he employed in creating a remarkable cinematic experience.

For his stunningly convincing realisation of Manik Bandopadhyay's novel into a breathtaking cinematic experience.

For a masterly rendering of a whole range of human experience into celluloid poetry.

For capturing Assamese life and reality in an original format uniquely associated with the director, and for enriching the spectrum of Indian Cinema thereby.

For the deeply moving portrayal of a family in turmoil in the midst of communal disharmony with lyrical quality and brilliant cinematic touches.

For a brilliantly knit plot, maintaining the tempo and rhythms of an unusual love story till end.

For successfully transplanting the classic play by keeping the traditional "Theyyam" art form as a backdrop and weaving an extremely tight story, never losing control of the medium.

For a warmly compassionate film where subject and treatment are in perfect harmony.

For his skillful weaving together of different strands of life through metaphors, symbols and folk icons, to question the definition of humanity in our scoundrel times.

For working with a large group of actors within the confines of a rambling old house. The director builds an unpretentious, gripping and entirely credible narrative and brings about in the process some extremely powerful performances.

For telling the eventful story of a revolutionary who has killed for his cause and awarded the death sentence for his crime. It further looks at the issue of capital punishment.

For her effective and subtle handling of people caught in a trying and difficult times.

For his complex weaving of human destines across a wide range of socio-political and cinematic histories.

For his appropriate usage of metaphors and complex handling of socio political situation present in West Bengal in a language simultaneously cinematic and poetic.

For the compelling documentation of contemporary human lives trapped in difficult times of communal hatred and violence.

For weaving in the lives, livelihoods and concerns of the street dwellers in a metro and the inspiring stand that makes the protagonist a role model across society.

For his delicate and subtle handling of gender issues in a conventional society. Four women of different marital status are trivialized and subjected to abject neglect by their immediate partners and family.

For its powerful handling of an extraordinary subject that focuses on marginal characters with great convection.

For the many layered narrative of emotional conflict, rich texture and ensemble performances.

For a gritty tale of love, jealousy and betrayal in the midst of bloodsport and violence, in the manner of realistic cinema.

For its haunting portrayal of the lives of people in a village as they battle with the reality of large scale industrial development. The director deploys an inventive storytelling form where sound, space and body operate distinctly to frame the experience of a fragile existence. Each face portrayed in the film carries the signs of persistent trauma. This is an aesthetic tour de force that confidently and successfully reinvents the contours of Indian experimental cinema.

The stark reality of a crematorium and its inhabitants who conduct the last rites form the core of this remarkable film that tugs at your heart. The director's creative craft pervades in all its ramifications throughout this brilliant film.