The prestigious 54th National Film Awards 2006 will be presented by President Pratibha Patil on September 2. "The honorable President of India, Pratibha Devisingh Patil will give away 54th National Film Awards to the winners in presence of I&B minister P R Dasmunsi on September 2, 2008 at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi," stated a communiqué from the ministry.

The President will also confer the Dada Saheb Phalke award on veteran filmmaker Tapan Sinha during the awards function. The national award nominations for 2006 had got delayed owing to a legal issue involving allegations of partiality in the awards. The Supreme Court later resolved the matter in favor of the government. Following the Supreme Court ruling, the jury for the awards announced names of the winners in June this year. The date for the award function was awaiting consent from the President's office.

Sanjay Dutt starrer "Lagey Raho Munnabhai" led the award table with four national honors in categories including best popular film, best screenplay, best lyrics and best supporting actor. Veteran Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee bagged the best actor award for the Bengali film "Podokkhep", while Tamil actress Priyamani won the best actress award for the film "Paruthi Veeran". Madhur Bhandarkar was declared winner for the best director award for his film "Traffic Signal". Malayalam film "Pulijanmam" received the best feature film award.