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.

This is a list of groups, organizations and festivals that recognize achievements in cinema, usually by awarding various prizes. The awards sometimes also have popular unofficial names (such as the 'Oscar' for Hollywood's Academy Awards), which are mentioned if applicable. Many awards are simply identified by the name of the group presenting the award.

Awards have been divided into three major categories: critics' awards, voted on (usually annually) by a group of critics; festival awards, awards presented to the best film shown in a particular film festival; and industry awards, which are selected by professionals working in some branch of the movie industry.

FIPRESCI (Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique) or International Film Critics Award given by the International Federation of Film Critics at various film festivals

(This is not intended to be a complete list of film festivals, but to showcase the distinctively named awards given at some festivals.)

Laurence Olivier Awards

Aamir Hussain Khan (pronounced [ˈaːmɪr ˈxaːn]) (born 14 March 1965) is an Indian film actor, director and producer who has established himself as one of the leading actors of Hindi cinema.

Starting his career as a child actor in his uncle Nasir Hussain's film Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973), Khan began his professional career eleven years later with Holi (1984) and had his first commercial success with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988). He received his first National Film Award as a Special Jury Award for his roles in the films Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) and Raakh (1989). After eight previous nominations during the 1980s and 1990s, Khan received his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his performance in the major grosser Raja Hindustani (1996) and later earned his second Best Actor award for his performance in the Academy Award-nominated Lagaan, which also marked the debut of his own production company.

Following a four-year break from acting, Khan made his comeback playing the title role in the historical Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005), and later won a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor for his role in Rang De Basanti (2006). The following year, he made his directorial debut with Taare Zameen Par, for which he received a Filmfare Award for Best Director. This was followed by Ghajini (2008), which became the highest grossing film of that year, and 3 Idiots (2009), which became the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all-time, unadjusted for inflation. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2003 and the Padma Bhushan in 2010 for his contributions towards the arts.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Hindi: नवाज़ुद्दीन सिद्दीक़ी, Urdu: نواز اُلدین صِدٌیقی, also known as Nowaz) is an Indian actor who has appeared in some of Bollywood's major films including, Black Friday, New York, Peepli Live, and Kahani. He will be appearing in Aamir Khan's 2012 release, Talaash (2012 film). Siddiqui is a graduate of The National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi, India. He worked in theatre for many years before moving to films.