The selection process started by announcing the invitation for the awards on March 18, 2011. For feature and non-feature films, all the films certified by Central Board of Film Certification, India between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010 were made eligible whereas for the best writing on cinema, all the books and articles as well reviews on Indian cinema published between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010 were made eligible for the awards.
Three different committees were instituted in order to judge the various entries for feature film, non-feature film and best writing on cinema sections; headed by J. P. Dutta, for feature films and A. K. Bir along with Ashok Vajpeyi for non-feature films and best writing on cinema sections, respectively. Another committee of five members was also constituted for the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, having included two past Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipient, Shyam Benegal and Adoor Gopalakrishnan.
Each chairperson for feature film, non-feature film and best writing on cinema sections announced the award on May 19, 2011 for their respective sections and award ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi with President of India, Pratibha Patil giving away the awards on September 9, 2011.
Awards were divided into feature films, non-feature films and books written on Indian cinema.
Lifetime achievement award is given to the prominent personality from the Indian film industry for the significant contributions given.
A committee consisting five eminent personalities from Indian film industry was appointed to evaluate the lifetime achievement award, Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Following were the jury members:
Films made in any Indian language shot on 16 mm, 35 mm or in a wider gauge or digital format but released on a film format or video/digital but certified by the Central Board of Film Certification as a feature film or featurette are eligible for Feature Film section.
