The 20th National Film Awards, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1972.^[1]

With this year, new award category is introduced for the feature films made in Meitei language. This newly introduced category includes President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Manipuri.^[1]

Six different committees were formed based on the film making sectors in India, mainly based in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras along with the central committee for all India level. For 20th National Film Awards, central committee was headed by Romesh Thapar.^[1]

• Jury Members: Central
  • Romesh Thapar (Chairperson) • Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai • Rita Ray • Sheila Vats • Usha Bhagat • Girish Karnad (Not Attended) • M. Yunus Dehlvi • Teji Bachchan • Phanishwar Nath 'Renu' • Shanta Gandhi • U. Visweswar Rao • I. S. Johar (Not Attended) • Ardhendu Mukerjee
• Jury Members: Short Films
  • S. K. Kooka (Chairperson) • B. D. Garga • Prasanta Sanyal • Gerson Da Cunha • Aruna Vasudeva • Bishamber Khanna • Revati Saran Sharma • Din Dayal
• Jury Regional: Bombay
  • Ali Sardar Jafri (Chairperson) • Mrinalini Sarabhai • Charles Correa • Bikram Singh • Bhupendra Shah  • Gopinath Talwalkar • D. G. Nadkarni • Kumud Mehta • Adi Marzban • P. K. Ravindranath • B. K. Adarsh • Atma Ram • G. P. Shirke • Kamleshwar
• Jury Regional: Calcutta
  • Sombhu Mitra (Chairperson) • Amina Kar • Suchitra Mitra • Sanat Lahiri • N. K. Ghosh • Bhaben Barua • Ramesh Chandra Dhall • Ananda Shankar • Badal Sarkar • B. N. Sircar
• Jury Regional: Calcutta - Nominated
  • Parimal Sarkar • Kanan Devi • Subodh Mitra • Elangbam Nilakanta Singh • Maharaj Kumari Binodini Devi
• Jury Regional: Madras
  • Malcolm Adiseshiah (Chairperson) • B. N. Reddy • A. L. Velliappa • Mahmooda Haja Shareef • S. Ananthamurthy • Thoppil Ravi • V. C. Subburaman • P. S. Ramakrishna Rao • K. P. Kottarakkara • Rajammal Anantharaman • P. C. Mathew

Awards were divided into feature films and non-feature films.

President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film is now better known as National Film Award for Best Feature Film, whereas President's Gold Medal for the Best Documentary Film is analogous to today's National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film. For children's films, Prime Minister's Gold Medal is now given as National Film Award for Best Children's Film. At the regional level, President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film is now given as National Film Award for Best Feature Film in a particular language. Certificate of Merit in all the categories is discontinued over the years.