Bollywood actor Ajay Devgan and Tamil actor Suriya have jointly bagged the National Film Award for best actor for their roles in Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior and Soorarai Pottru.
The 68th National Film Awards were announced by Information and Broadcasting Ministry today. The award for Best Hindi film went to Toolsidas Junior and award for Best Feature Film was given to Soorarai Pottru.
Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior won the Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.
Vishan Bhardwaj bagged the Best Music Direction award for ‘1232 Kilometers Marenge To Wahin Jaakar’.
Best film on Social Issues award went to ‘Justice Delayed but Delivered’ and Three Sisters.
Tamil film “Soorarai Pottru”, partially inspired by the events of the life of Simplifly Deccan founder GR Gopinath, received 13 awards, including for best feature, best actor and best actress, at the 68th National Film Awards for 2020 announced on Friday.
The second big winner of the day was “Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior”, starring Ajay Devgn who shared the best actor award with Suriya for “Soorarai Pottru”. This was Devgn’s third national award in the best actor category.
Congratulating the winners, Union information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur said, “Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the film fraternity faced a lot of challenges in shooting and releasing films. But despite that, for the 68th National Film Awards 2020, very good films were released… I would like to give my heartiest congratulations to the winners of the awards.”
Along with Suriya, who played Maara, a former Air Force officer with a dream of starting a low-cost airline in India, Aparrna Balamurali won the best actress award for “Soorarai Pottru”. The film, directed by Sudha Kongara, also won in the best feature film category.
The award for the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment was given to the Bollywood movie “Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior” starring Devgn, Kajol and Saif Ali Khan.
Directed by Om Raut, “Tanhaji…” is based on the life of Tanaji Malusare, the military leader of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s army. Set in the 17th century, the film also won the best costume designer for Nachiket Barve and Mahesh Sherla.
The Bollywood actor, who has previously won the National Film Award for best actor for his performances in “Zakhm” (1998) and “The Legend of Bhagat Singh” (2002), said he was elated to receive the honour for the third time.
“I’m elated to win the Best Actor Award for ‘Tanhaji—The Unsung Warrior’ at the 68th National Awards along with Suriya who won for ‘Soorarai Pottru’. “I thank everyone, most of all my creative team, the audience and my fans. I also express my gratitude to my parents & the Almighty for their blessings. Congratulations to all the other winners,” Devgn said in a statement.
Apart from this, Sachidanandan KR (Sachy) won the best direction award for his Malayalam film Ayyappanum Koshiyum and he received a cash prize of ₹2,50,000 along with the Swarna Kamal medal.
The state of Madhya Pradesh won the most film friendly state award and received the Rajat Kamal and a certificate. Special mentions for the same award were given to Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
The winners for the 68th National Film Awards were selected by the 10-member jury headed by Hindi filmmaker Vipul Shah. The awards were announced by jury member Dharam Gulati.
68th National Award Winners List:
Best Critic: No winner was announced this year
Best Book on Cinema: The Longest Kiss
Feature Film Category
Best Feature Film: Soorarai Pottru
Best Direction: Sachy for Ayyappanum Koshiyum
Best Actor: Ajay Devgn for Tanhaji and Suriya for Soorarai Pottru
Best Actress: Aparna Balamurali
Best Supporting Actress: Aparna Balamurali
Best Supporting Actor: Biju Menon
Best Costume: Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior
Best Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior
Special Mention: June (Marathi)
Best Haryanvi Film: Dada Lakhmi
Best Telugu Film: Colour Photo
Best Malayalam Film: Engagement on One Day
Best Hindi Film: Toolsidas Junior
Best Stunt: Ayyappanum Koshiyum
Best Lyrics: Saina
Best Screenplay: Soorarai Pottru
Best Male Playback Singer: Rahul Deshpandey
Non-Feature Film Category
Best Narration: Rhapsody of Rains: Monsoons of Kerala
Best Editing: Borderlands
Best Music: Vishal Bharadwaj
Best Audiography: Pearl of The Desert
Best On-Location Sound Recordist: Jaadui Jungle
Best Cinematography: Nikhil S Pravin
Best Direction: Oh, That’s Bhanu
Special Jury Award: Admitted
Best Investigative Film: The Saviour
Best Exploration/Adventure Film: Wheeling The Ball
Best Education Film: Dreaming for Words
Best Film on Social Issues: Justice Delayed But Delivered and 3 Sisters (Shared award)
Best Promotional Film: Surmounting Challenges
Best Art and Culture Film: Girish Kasaravalli
Best Debut Non-Feature Film: Vishesh Iyer for Paraya
Topics
68th National Film Awards Ajay Devgan Suriya Bollywood Celebrity Entertainment Kolkata
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