| Year |
Winner |
Film |
| 2006 |
Madhur Bhandarkar |
Traffic Signal (Hindi) |
| 2005 |
Rahul Dholakia |
Parzania (English) |
| 2004 |
Buddhadeb Dasgupta |
Swapner Din (Bengali) |
| 2003 |
Goutam Ghose |
Abar Aranye (Bengali) |
| 2002 |
Aparna Sen |
Mr & Mrs Iyer (English / Tamil)
|
| 2001 |
B Lenin |
Oruku Nooruper (Tamil) |
| 2000 |
Rituparno Ghosh |
Utsab (Bengali) |
| 1999 |
Buddhadeb Dasgupta |
Uttara (Bengali) |
| 1998 |
Rajeevnath |
Janani (Malayalam) |
| 1997 |
Jayaraaj |
Kaliyattam (Malayalam) |
| 1996 |
Ahathian |
Kaathal Kottai (Tamil) |
| 1995 |
Saeed Mirza |
Naseem (Hindi) |
| 1994 |
Jahnu Barua |
Hkhagoraloi Bahu Door (Assamese) |
| 1993 |
T V Chandran |
Ponthan Mada (Malayalam) |
| 1992 |
Gautam Ghose |
Padma Nadir Majhi (Bengali) |
| 1991 |
Satyajit Ray |
Agantuk (Bengali) |
| 1990 |
Tapan Sinha |
Ek Doctor Ki Maut (Hindi) |
| 1989 |
Adoor Gopalakrishnan |
Mathilukal (Malayalam) |
| 1988 |
Shaji Karun |
Piravi (Malayalam) |
| 1987 |
Adoor Gopalkrishnan |
Anantharam (Malayalam) |
| 1986 |
G Aravindan |
Oridhatu (Malayalam) |
| 1985 |
Shyam Benegal |
Trikal (Hindi) |
| 1984 |
Adoor Gopalkrishnan |
Mukhamukham (Malayalam) |
| 1983 |
Mrinal Sen |
Khandhar (Hindi) |
| 1982 |
Utpalendu Chakraborty |
Chokh (Bengali) |
| 1981 |
Aparna Sen |
36 Chowringhee Lane (Hindi / English / Bengali) |
| 1980 |
Mrinal Sen |
Akaaler Sandhane (Bengali) |
| 1979 |
Mrinal Sen |
Ek Din Prati Din (Bengali) |
| 1978 |
G Aravindan |
Thampu (Malayalam) |
| 1977 |
G Aravindan |
Kanchan Sita (Malayalam) |
| 1976 |
P Lankesh |
Pallavi (Kannada) |
| 1975 |
Satyajit Ray |
Jana Aranya (Bengali) |
| 1974 |
Satyajit Ray |
Sonar Kella (Bengali) |
| 1973 |
Mani Kaul |
Duvidha (Hindi) |
