[1] A national panel appointed annually by the NFDC selects the actor who has given the best performance in a supporting role within Indian cinema.

[2] Since the 70th National Film Awards, the name was changed to "Best Actor in a Supporting Role".

[3] The winner is given a "Rajat Kamal" (Silver Lotus) certificate and a cash prize of ₹2 lakh (US$2,300).

[8] Kapur received the awards for his work in the Hindi films Raakh (1988) and Maqbool (2003).

[10] Paresh Rawal and Dilip Prabhavalkar have each won the award for two performances in a single year.