The 71st National Film Awards: 12th Fail best Film 

The 71st National Film Awards for 2023 were announced on Friday, and Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail, a film that captures a young man’s journey to become an IPS officer, was awarded the Best Feature Film title. The film’s lead actor, Vikrant Massey, shared the Best Actor award with Shah Rukh Khan, who played a double role of a father and son in the action film Jawan. 

Did you know that this is Shah Rukh Khan’s first National Award? 

The award for the Best Female Actor in a Leading Role went to Rani Mukherjee for her portrayal of a mother fighting for her children in Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway. This is Rani’s first National Award as well. 

The National Award jury, headed by filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker, awarded Best Direction to The Kerala Story by Sudipto Sen. But this particular nomination attracted political attention, as the Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, said in a statement that giving an award to a film that “defamed Kerala and spread communalism” is insulting the rich legacy of Indian films that stood for religious harmony and national integration. 

Interestingly, the Best Documentary (Non-Feature) was won by God Vulture and Human by Rishiraj Agarwal, exploring the subject of organ donation through the lens of a transplant coordinator.