The 16th National Film Awards, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in 1968.[1][2] 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.
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.[1]
Awards were divided into feature films and non-feature films.
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 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 (two); 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:[1]
Following were the awards given:[1]
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.[1]
Following were the awards given:[1]
Following were the awards not given as no film was found to be suitable for the award:[1]