Soorarai Pottru is best film; Ajay Devgn, Suriya bag top acting honours at national film awards
Tamil film “Soorarai Pottru”, partially inspired by the events of the life of Simplify 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.
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.