Article 370 won Best Feature Film, Best Actress and Best Music Direction (Songs) at the 72nd National Film Awards, India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting announced on July 18. It is the second National Film Award composer Shashwat Sachdev has collected for scoring an Aditya Dhar production, and the first Yami Gautam Dhar has won in a career now past fourteen years.
The timing matters less for the trophy count than for what sits next to it. Dhar, Sachdev and Gautam Dhar’s other shared project, the Dhurandhar franchise, has spent 2026 becoming the biggest commercial run in Hindi film history. One small production circle now holds the country’s top cinema honor and its biggest box office record inside the same eighteen months.
Article 370 Sweeps Best Film, Actress and Music
The 72nd National Film Awards cover films the Central Board of Film Certification cleared in 2024. Results were originally expected on July 3, but the jury asked for nearly two more weeks, and the full list came out at a press conference in New Delhi on July 18.
Article 370 took the top prize, Best Feature Film, along with Best Actress for Yami Gautam Dhar and Best Music Direction (Songs) for Shashwat Sachdev’s score of the political thriller. Best Actor went jointly to Mammootty for Bramayugam and Kartik Aaryan for Chandu Champion, an unusual split confirmed in the ministry’s official list of 2024 winners, filed under Feature Film Jury chairman Jayaraj.
Aditya Dhar, who produced and co-wrote Article 370, called the sweep “humbling, deeply emotional” in a note posted to Instagram, adding that the team “weren’t chasing accolades” when they made the film.
Shashwat Sachdev Has Been Here Before
This is not new ground for Sachdev. He won Best Background Music at the 66th National Film Awards in 2019 for Uri: The Surgical Strike, his first collaboration with Dhar and Gautam Dhar. Article 370 is his second National Award working with the same two.
Speaking to Screen before this year’s results came out, Sachdev said awards “are wonderful because they acknowledge the work, but they can never be the reason for doing it.” He said the same is true for Dhurandhar, the franchise he also scored for Dhar.
Three projects, one recurring trio, since 2019. Two of the three have now won National Awards. The third became the biggest commercial run in Hindi film history, without needing a trophy to prove it.
The Numbers Behind Four Films
Line up the four films Dhar, Sachdev and Gautam Dhar have made together since 2019, and the pattern is not subtle. Budgets stayed modest even as the box office kept climbing.
| Film | Year | Dhar, Sachdev, Gautam Dhar Role | Box Office | National Recognition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uri: The Surgical Strike | 2019 | Dhar directed and wrote; Sachdev scored; Gautam Dhar co-led | Rs 244 crore on a Rs 60 crore budget | Sachdev won Best Background Music, 66th National Film Awards |
| Article 370 | 2024 | Dhar produced and co-wrote; Sachdev composed; Gautam Dhar led | Over Rs 110 crore on a Rs 20 crore (roughly $2.4 million) budget | Best Feature Film, Best Actress, Best Music Direction (Songs), 72nd National Film Awards |
| Dhurandhar | 2025 | Dhar directed and produced; Sachdev composed | Rs 894 crore net in India | Highest-grossing Hindi film of 2025 |
| Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge | 2026 | Dhar directed and produced; Sachdev composed; Gautam Dhar cameo | Over Rs 1,800 crore worldwide (roughly $214 million) | Highest-grossing Hindi film ever made |
Dhurandhar 2, released on March 19, completed a sensational 100 day run in theatres in late June, still adding to a worldwide total that overtook Baahubali 2 to make it the highest-grossing Hindi film ever produced. Its predecessor held that title for barely a year before the sequel took it over.
Add the three films up and, Dhar has crossed Rs 2,300 crore at the Indian box office alone, on only three directorial and producing credits. Most directors never reach that figure across ten films.
One Home Production, Two Kinds of Trophy
Article 370 was produced by Jio Studios and B62 Studios, credited to Jyoti Deshpande, Aditya Dhar and Lokesh Dhar. Deshpande is Jio Studios’ president. B62 is Dhar’s own banner, and it produced both Dhurandhar films too.
Deshpande thanked “the esteemed Jury for this honour” in her own statement after the win, extending credit to director Aditya Suhas Jambhale and to “Yami Gautam Dhar who brought such honesty and emotional depth” to the role.
Gautam Dhar, who is married to Aditya Dhar, called the film personal beyond the performance itself.
It is a dream I have carried in my heart for years and today, I receive it with immense gratitude and humility. Article 370 was never just another film for me. The fact that it was our home production makes this recognition even more emotional and personal.
Gautam Dhar posted that reflection on X the day the results came out, adding that the honour is “not the end of a dream” but “the beginning of a greater responsibility.” B62’s stake in Dhurandhar means the same household now has a direct line to both trophies in this story, the state’s top film honor and the biggest ticket haul in Hindi cinema.
Who Else Won at the 72nd National Film Awards?
Article 370 dominated the headlines, but the 72nd National Film Awards spread recognition widely. Best Actor went jointly to two performers from very different corners of Indian cinema, a debut director won for a film built around a divisive historical figure, and several of the year’s biggest commercial hits picked up honors of their own.
- Best Actor (shared) – Mammootty for the Malayalam horror film Bramayugam and Kartik Aaryan for the sports biopic Chandu Champion
- Best Debut Director – Randeep Hooda for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar
- Jury leadership – Feature Film Jury chairman Jayaraj, a Malayalam filmmaker serving on the panel for a second time since 2012
- Wider honors – Kalki 2898 AD, Amaran, Pushpa 2: The Rule, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 and Stree 2 also picked up awards across various categories
Regional cinema shared the biggest stage with mainstream Hindi releases this year, a mix the ministry pointed to as proof the awards reward films regardless of language or box office scale.
A Formal Ceremony Still Doesn’t Have a Date
July 18’s press conference named the winners. It was not the ceremony itself. National Film Awards are traditionally handed over months later at a formal function in New Delhi, with India’s President presenting the trophies in person. No date for that event has been set yet.
For now, Article 370’s three trophies exist only on paper, sitting next to a franchise that has already banked its records at the box office.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Article 370 based on a true story?
Article 370 is a fictional thriller inspired by real events, not a factual retelling. It follows a fictional NIA officer named Zooni Haksar, played by Yami Gautam Dhar, whose mission unfolds alongside the government’s real 2019 decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 of the Constitution.
Has any Dhurandhar film won a National Film Award?
Not yet. The National Film Awards judge films by the year the Central Board of Film Certification cleared them, and the 72nd edition covered only 2024 releases. Going by that pattern, Dhurandhar would first be eligible at the 73rd awards, covering 2025 films, with the sequel a cycle behind it.
Will there be a Dhurandhar 3?
The makers have not confirmed a release date, but they have dropped a strong hint about a third chapter, and reports say Dhar and star Ranveer Singh are already planning another film together for next year.
Who picked the winners of the 72nd National Film Awards?
An 11-member jury led by Malayalam filmmaker Jayaraj picked the feature film winners. Separate panels, chaired by Aseem Sinha and A. Chandrasekhar, judged non-feature films and writing on cinema. Jayaraj previously sat on the National Film Awards jury back in 2012.
