16th National Film Awards
The 16th National Film Awards, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in 1968. Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 13 February 1970.
With 16th National Film Awards, three new awards were introduced, mainly for Best Film on Family Welfare, Best Child Artist and Best Film Lyric Writer. Moreover, for male and female singers, awards were differentiated with Best Male Playback Singer and Best Female Playback Singer respectively.
Juries
Six different committees were formed based on the film making sectors in India, mainly based in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras along with the award categories. Another committee for all India level was also formed which included some of the members from regional committee. For 16th National Film Awards, central committee was headed by Justice G. D. Khosla.- Jury Members: Central
- * G. D. Khosla Sitaram KesriSheila BhatiaA. C. JalanEzra MirB. K. KaranjiaTeji BachchanI. S. JoharHaridas BhattacharjeeU. Visweswar RaoSunder Lal NahataM. N. Kapur
- Jury Members: Documentary
- * D. K. Borooah Shambu MitraMrinalini SarabhaiG. G. SwellShanta Gandhi
- Jury Members: Short Films
- * Piloo Mody Balwant GargiAmita MalikR. G. AnandInder Lal Das
- Jury Regional: Bombay
- * Nissim Ezekiel Urmila KapurNavin KhandwallaR. S. PandeFiroze RangoonwallaBikram SinghBal ChhabdaShatrujit PaulBuny TalwarG. P. Shirke
- Jury Regional: Calcutta
- * Amala Shankar Roma ChoudhryChintamoni KarK. C. PanigrahiA. K. PramanickUtpal DuttaKanan DeviKartic ChatterjeeDurgadas Mitra
- Jury Regional: Madras
- * C. R. Pattabhiraman P. Achutha MenonR. K. NarayanMallikarjuna RaoSarojini VaradappanK. ManoharanRajammal AnantharamanV. C. SubburamanD. V. S. RajuB. Ananthaswami
Awards
President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film is now better known as National Film Award for Best Feature Film, whereas President's Gold Medal for the Best Documentary Film is analogous to today's National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film. For children's films, Prime Minister's Gold Medal is now given as National Film Award for Best Children's Film. At the regional level, President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film is now given as National Film Award for Best Feature Film in a particular language. Certificate of Merit in all the categories is discontinued over the years.
Feature films
Feature films were awarded at All India as well as regional level. For 16th National Film Awards, a Bengali film Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne won the President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film, with also winning the maximum number of awards ; along with two Hindi films, Aashirwad and Saraswatichandra with a Malayalam film, Thulabharam and a Tamil film, Thillaanaa Mohanambal. Following were the awards given in each category:All India Award
Following were the awards given:| Award | Film | Language | Awardee | Cash Prize |
| Best Feature Film | Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne | Bengali | Producer: Nepal Dutta | Gold Medal and 20,000 |
| Best Feature Film | Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne | Bengali | Producer: Asim Dutta | Gold Medal and 20,000 |
| Best Feature Film | Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne | Bengali | Director: Satyajit Ray | 5,000 and a plaque |
| Second Best Feature Film | Thulabharam | Malayalam | Producer: M/s. Supriya Pictures | 5,000 and a medal |
| Second Best Feature Film | Thulabharam | Malayalam | Director: A. Vincent | 2,000 and a plaque |
| Best Film on Family Welfare | Anchal Ke Phool | Hindi | Producer: M. R. Seth | 5,000 and a medal |
| Best Film on Family Welfare | Anchal Ke Phool | Hindi | Director: Karunesh Thakur | 2,000 and a plaque |
| Best Feature Film on National Integration | Janmabhoomi | Malayalam | Producer: M/s. Roopa Rekha | 5,000 and a medal |
| Best Feature Film on National Integration | Janmabhoomi | Malayalam | Director: John Sankaramangalam | 2,000 and a plaque |
| Best Children's Film | Heerer Prajapati | Bengali | Producer: Children's Film Society | 7,500 and a medal |
| Best Children's Film | Heerer Prajapati | Bengali | Director: Shanti P. Chowdhury | 2,500 and a plaque |
| Best Actor | Aashirwad | Hindi | Ashok Kumar | A figurine |
| Best Actress | Thulabharam | Malayalam | Sharada | A figurine |
| Best Child Artist | Kuzhanthaikkaga | Tamil | Baby Rani | A plaque |
| Best Direction | Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne | Bengali | Satyajit Ray | 5,000 and a plaque |
| Best Music Direction | Saraswatichandra | Hindi | Kalyanji Anandji | 5,000 and a plaque |
| Best Male Playback Singer | Mere Huzoor | Hindi | Manna Dey | A plaque |
| Best Female Playback Singer | Uyarndha Manithan | Tamil | P. Susheela | A plaque |
| Lyric Writer of the Best Film Song on National Integration | Kuzhanthaikkaga | Tamil | Kannadasan | A plaque |
| Best Screenplay | Anokhi Raat | Hindi | Pandit Anand Kumar | 5,000 |
| Best Cinematography | Saraswatichandra | Hindi | Nariman A. Irani | 5,000 and a plaque |
| Best Cinematography | Thillaanaa Mohanambal | Tamil | K. S. Prasad | 5,000 and a plaque |
Regional Award
The awards were given to the best films made in the regional languages of India. For feature films in Assamese, English, Gujarati, Kashmiri and Punjabi language, President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film was not given. The producer and director of the film were awarded with 5,000 and a Silver medal, respectively.Non-Feature films
Following were the awards given:Short films
| Award | Film | Language | Awardee | Cash Prize |
| Best Information Film | Everest | English | Producer: Arun Chowdhury for Films Division | 5,000 and a medal |
| Best Information Film | Everest | English | Director: N. S. Thapa | 2,000 and a plaque |
| Best Educational / Instructional Film | Forest and The Man | English | Producer: K. L. Khandpur for Films Division | 5,000 and a medal |
| Best Educational / Instructional Film | Forest and The Man | English | Director: Neil Gokhale | 2,000 and a plaque |
| Best Educational / Instructional Film | Forest and The Man | English | Director: P. B. Pendharkar | 2,000 and a plaque |
| Best Film on Social Documentation | Water | English | Producer: M/s. Fali Billmoria Productions | 5,000 and a medal |
| Best Film on Social Documentation | Water | English | Director: Fali Billmoria | 2,000 and a plaque |
| Best Experimental Film | And I Make Short Films | English | Producer: K. L. Khandpur for Films Division | 5,000 and a medal |
| Best Experimental Film | And I Make Short Films | English | Director: S. N. S. Sastry | 2,000 and a plaque |
| Best Animation Film | Nag Aur Kauwa | Hindi | Producer: Children's Film Society | 5,000 and a medal |
| Best Animation Film | Nag Aur Kauwa | Hindi | Director: S. B. Nayampally | 2,000 and a plaque |