The National Film Award for Best Actress (officially known as Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actress) is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India to an actress who has delivered the best performance in a leading role within the Indian film industry. The award was first given in 1968.

The Directorate of Film Festivals makes awards annually in several categories. The organization was established by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (Government of India) in 1973 to co-ordinate National and International film festivals in India. The President of India presents the awards "to encourage the production of films of aesthetic and technical excellence and social relevance contributing to the understanding and appreciation of cultures of different regions of the country in cinematic form and thereby also promoting integration and unity of the nation."

The awards were called as "State Awards for Films" when established in 1954. The State Awards instituted the individual award in 1968 as the "Urvashi Award for the Best Actress"; in 1975 it was renamed as the Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actress. Throughout the years, accounting for ties and repeat winners, the Government of India has presented a total of 46 Best Actress awards to 38 different actresses.

Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to:

The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it is administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973.

Every year, a national panel appointed by the government selects the winning entry, and the award ceremony is held in New Delhi, where the President of India presents the awards. This is followed by the inauguration of the National Film Festival, where the award-winning films are screened for the public. Declared for films produced in the previous year across the country, they hold the distinction of awarding merit to the best of Indian cinema overall, as well as presenting awards for the best films in each region and language of the country. Due to the national scale of the National Film Awards, it is considered to be the equivalent of the American Academy Awards.

The Awards were first presented in 1954. The Government of India conceived the ceremony to honor films made across India, on a national scale, to encourage the furthering of Indian art and culture. Since 1973, the Indian Directorate of Film festivals administers the ceremony along with other major film events in India annually. It is the highest award given for films in India.

Priyanka Chopra (pronounced [prɪˈjəŋkaː ˈtʃoːpɽaː]; born 18 July 1982) is an Indian actress, singer-songwriter and former Miss World. Before starting her acting career, she worked as a model and gained fame after winning the Miss World title in 2000. She is often referred to by the nickname "Piggy Chops", which was given to her by co-stars on the set of the film Bluffmaster! During her career, Chopra has received four Filmfare Awards, among seven nominations and one National Film Award for Best Actress.

Chopra made her acting debut with the 2002 Tamil film Thamizhan. The following year, she made her Bollywood film debut with The Hero: Love Story of a Spy and followed it with the hit Andaaz, for which she won a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award. In 2004, she became the second woman to win the Filmfare Best Villain Award, which she received for her critically acclaimed performance in Aitraaz. She subsequently appeared in successful films like Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), Waqt: The Race Against Time (2005), Krrish (2006) and Don (2006).

Vidya Balan (pronounced [ʋɪd̪jaː baːlən]; born 1 January 1978) is an Indian actress, who appears mainly in Hindi films, in addition to Bengali and Malayalam films. After graduating with a degree in sociology, she started her career starring in music videos, television shows and commercials, before making her feature film debut with the independent Bengali drama Bhalo Theko (2003). Balan received positive notice for her first Hindi film, Parineeta (2005), and followed it with a leading role in the blockbuster Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), and other such hit films as Guru, Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiyaa (all 2007).

2009 marked the beginning of the most successful period in Balan's career as she portrayed five back-to-back roles to wide critical acclaim in Paa (2009), Ishqiya (2010), No One Killed Jessica (2011), The Dirty Picture (2011) and Kahaani (2012). These roles have further established her as one of the leading contemporary actresses of Hindi cinema and earned her several major awards. Balan has received one National Film Award for Best Actress, five Filmfare Awards, including two for Best Actress and one for Best Actress - Critics, as well as three consecutive Screen Awards for Best Actress.