3rd National Film Awards 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 3rd National Film Awards, "Pather Panchali", a Bengali film by a debutant director Satyajit Ray won the President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film. Following were the awards given: For 3rd National Film Awards, none of the films were awarded from Children's films category as no film was found to be suitable. With 3rd National Film Awards, new award category was introduced for the feature films made
Pather Panchali of Calcutta's red-light districts, as the ideal candidate. Several minor roles were played by the villagers of Boral, where "Pather Panchali" was filmed. Shooting started on 27 October 1952. Boral, a village near Calcutta, was selected in early 1953 as the main location for principal photography, and night scenes were shot in-studio. The technical team included several first-timers, including Ray himself and cinematographer Subrata Mitra, who had never operated a film camera. Art director Bansi Chandragupta had professional experience, having worked with Jean Renoir on "The River". Both Mitra and Chandragupta went on to establish themselves as respected professionals. Mitra