| Year | Actor | Film | Year | Actor | Film |
| 2010 | Amitabh Bachchan | Paa(Hindi) | 1987 | Chaaru Haasan | Tabarana Kathe (Kannada) |
| 2009 | Uupendra Limaye | Jogva(Marathi) | 1986 | Shashi Kapoor | New Delhi Times (Hindi) |
| 2008 | Prakash Raj | Kanchivaram(Tamil) | 1985 | Naseeruddin Shah | Paar (Hindi) |
| 2004 | Vikram | Pithamagan (Tamil) | 1984 | Om Puri | Ardh Satya (Hindi) |
| 2003 | Ajay Devgan | The Legend of Bhagat Singh (Hindi) | 1983 | Kamal Haasan | Moondram Pirai (Tamil) |
| 2002 | Murali | Neythukaaran (Malayalam) | 1982 | Om Puri | Arohan (Hindi) |
| 2001 | Anil Kapoor | Pukar (Hindi) | 1981 | Balan K. Nair | Oppol (Malayalam) |
| 2000 | Mohanlal | Vanaprastham (Malayalam) | 1980 | Naseeruddin Shah | Sparsh (Hindi) |
| 1999 | 1.Mammooty 2.Ajay Devgan |
1.Dr. Ambedkar (English) 2.Zakhm (Hindi) |
1979 | Arun Mukherjee | Parashuram (Bengali) |
| 1998 | 1.Suresh Gopi 2.Balachandra Menon |
1.Kaliyattam (Malayalam) 2.Samaantharangal (Malayalam) |
1978 | Suresh Gopi | Kodiyettam |
| 1997 | Kamal Hassan | Indian (Tamil) | 1977 | Mithun Chakraborty | Mrigaya (Bengali) |
| 1996 | Rajit Kapur | The Making of the Mahatma (English) | 1976 | M.V. Vasudeva Rao | Chomana Dudi (Kannada) |
| 1995 | Nana Patekar | Krantiveer (Hindi) | 1975 | Sadhu Mehr | Ankur (Hindi) |
| 1994 | Mammooty | Ponthan Mada and Vidheyan (Malayalam) | 1974 | P. J. Antony | Nirmalyam (Malayalam) |
| 1993 | Mithun Chakraborty | Tahader Katha (Bengali) | 1973 | Sanjeev Kumar | Koshish (Hindi) |
| 1992 | Mohanlal | Bharatham (Malayalam) | 1972 | M.G. Ramachandran | Rickshawkaran (Tamil) |
| 1991 | Amitabh Bachchan | Agneepath | 1971 | Sanjeev Kumar | Dastak (Hindi) |
| 1990 | Mammooty | Mathilukal and Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha (Malayalam) | 1970 | Utpal Dutt | Bhuvan Shome (Hindi) |
| 1989 | Premji | Piravi (Malayalam) | 1969 | Ashok Kumar | Aashirwaad (Hindi) |
| 1988 | Kamal Hassan | Nayakan (Tamil) | 1968 | Uttam Kumar | Antony Firingee and Chiriakhana (Bengali) |