BENGALURU: On Friday, the Government of India announced the winners of the 68th National Film Awards. The ‘Best Actor’ award for the year is shared by Suriya and Ajay Devgn for their performances in ‘Soorarai Pottru’ and ‘Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior’ respectively. While this is Suriya’s first National Award, Ajay Devgn has bagged the honour for the third time.
Earlier, he had won the National Award for ‘Best Actor’ for ‘Zakhm’ (1998) and ‘The Legend Of Bhagat Singh’ (2002). Lately, he has directed ‘Runway 34’, in which he was the lead actor, and is currently helming ‘Bholaa’ – the remake of ‘Kaithi’.
‘Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior’ also fetched the award for ‘Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment’. Released in 2020, the movie racked up Rs 270 crore nett in India and was the biggest blockbuster of the year. It was also the biggest box-office hit of Devgn’s illustrious career.
Malayalam thriller ‘Ayyappanum Koshiyum’ walked away with two major awards; KR Sachidanandan, known professionally as Sachy, won the ‘Best Director’ honour posthumously, while Biju Menon chalked up ‘Best Supporting Actor’ award. Sachy died of a cardiac arrest in 2020 at the age of 47.
Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli was felicitated with ‘Best Supporting Actress’ award for her work in ‘Sivaranjiniyum Innum Sila Pengalum’, which also won laurels for ‘Best Tamil Film’ along with ‘Best Editing’.
‘Toolsidas Junior’ was awarded the ‘Best Hindi Film’ with a special jury mention for child actor Varun Buddhadev. ‘Dollu’ won ‘Best Kannada Film’ and ‘Best Location Sound’ awards.
“’Avijatrik’ snapped up ‘Best Bengali Film’ and ‘Best Cinematography’ honours at the ceremony.