The National Film Awards, instituted in 1954, are India's principal state honours for cinema and are presented on behalf of the Union Government by the President. Best Children's Film is one of the feature-film categories, created to recognise cinema made for young audiences - which is why a debut film such as Damu could win national recognition without belonging to the commercial mainstream. Raja Sen worked across feature films, television serials and documentaries at a time when Bengali cinema and television were both being reshaped, and several of his films were literary adaptations, including Krishnakanter Will, drawn from Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel.