The National Film Awards, established in 1954, are the most prominent film awards in India that merit the best of the Indian cinema.
The ceremony also presents awards for films in various regional languages.
Awards for films in seven regional language (Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu) started from 2nd National Film Awards which were presented on 21 December 1955.
[1] The 1954 film, directed by S. M. Sriramulu Naidu, Malaikkallan was honoured with the first president's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Tamil.
Certificate of Merit for Second and Third Best Feature Films in Tamil were received by Andha Naal and Edhir Paradhathu respectively.