Until 1974, winners of the National Film Award received a figurine and certificate; since 1975, they have been awarded with a "Rajat Kamal" (silver lotus), certificate and a cash prize.

The first recipient was Uttam Kumar from Bengali cinema, who was honoured at the 15th National Film Awards in 1967 for his performances in Anthony Firingee and Chiriyakhana.

Kamal Haasan, Mammootty and Ajay Devgn with three awards, while six actors—Mohanlal, Mithun Chakraborty, Sanjeev Kumar, Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah and Dhanush—have won the award two times.

Two actors have achieved the honour for performing in two languages—Mithun Chakraborty (Hindi and Bengali) and Mammootty (Malayalam and English).

[7] The most recent recipient is Rishab Shetty who is honoured at the 70th National Film Awards for his performance in Kantara.