| Year | Winner | Occupation | Born |
| 1969 | Devika Rani | Actress | Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) |
| 1970 | B. N. Sircar | Producer | West Bengal |
| 1971 | Prithviraj Kapoor | Actor (Posthumous) | Lyallpur (Punjab) |
| 1972 | Pankaj Mullick | Music Director | West Bengal |
| 1973 | Ruby Myers (Sulochana) | Actress | Pune (Maharashtra) |
| 1974 | Bommireddy Narasimha Reddy | Director | Kadapa District (Andhra Pradesh) |
| 1975 | Dhirendranath Ganguly | Actor, Director | Kolkata (West Bengal) |
| 1976 | Kanan Devi | Actress | Howrah (West Bengal) |
| 1977 | Nitin Bose | Cinematographer, Director, Writer | Kolkata (West Bengal) |
| 1978 | Rai Chand Boral | Music Director, Director | Kolkata (West Bengal) |
| 1979 | Sohrab Modi | Actor, Director, Producer | Maharashtra |
| 1980 | Paidi Jairaj | Actor, Director | Karimnagar (Andhra Pradesh) |
| 1981 | Naushad Ali | Music Director | Uttar Pradesh |
| 1982 | L. V. Prasad | Actor, Director, Producer | Eluru (Andhra Pradesh) |
| 1983 | Durga Khote | Actress | Mumbai (Maharashtra) |
| 1984 | Satyajit Ray | Director | Kolkata (West Bengal) |
| 1985 | V. Shantaram | Actor, Director, Producer | Kolhapur (Maharastra) |
| 1986 | Bommireddy Nagi Reddy | Producer | Kadapa District (Andhra Pradesh) |
| 1987 | Raj Kapoor | Actor, Director | Peshawar (Pakistan) |
| 1988 | Ashok Kumar | Actor | Bhagalpur (West Bengal) |
| 1989 | Lata Mangeshkar | Singer | Indore (Madhya Pradesh) |
| 1990 | Akkineni Nageswara Rao | Actor | Krishna District (Andhra Pradesh) |
| 1991 | Bhalji Pendharkar | Director, Producer, Writer | Kolhapur (Maharashtra) |
| 1992 | Bhupen Hazarika | Music Director | Guwahati (Assam) |
| 1993 | Majrooh Sultanpuri | Lyricist | Mumbai (Maharashtra) |
| 1994 | Dilip Kumar | Actor | Peshawar (Pakistan) |
| 1995 | Dr. Rajkumar | Actor | Gajanur (Karnataka) |
| 1996 | Sivaji Ganesan | Actor | Villupuram (Tamil Nadu) |
| 1997 | Kavi Pradeep | Lyricist | Badnagar (Madhya Pradesh) |
| 1998 | B.R. Chopra | Director, Producer | Ludhiana (Punjab) |
| 1999 | Hrishikesh Mukherjee | Director | Kolkata (West Bengal) |
| 2000 | Asha Bhosle | Singer | Sangl (Maharashtra) |
| 2001 | Yash Chopra | Director, Producer | Lahore (Pakistan) |
| 2002 | Dev Anand | Actor, Director, Producer | Gurdaspur District (Punjab) |
| 2003 | Mrinal Sen | Director | Faridpur (Bangladesh) |
| 2004 | Adoor Gopalakrishnan | Director | Adoor (Kerala) |
| 2005 | Shyam Benegal | Director | Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) |
| 2006 | Tapan Sinha | Director | Kolkata (West Bengal) |
| 2007 | Manna Dey | Singer | Kolkata (West Bengal) |