The ceremony for the 67th National Film Awards was held at Vigyan Bhavan today and we have some happy faces from different film industries across India sharing their excitement on social media. Right from the talented Kangana Ranaut to the musically blessed B Praak, several Bollywood artists have received the highest honour in the country. Presented to the winners by the Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu, the award ceremony is organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals which falls under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
The list of final winners was declared on Monday, October 18, 2021, and the rehearsals took place in Delhi yesterday. According to a report in The Hindu, this function was originally scheduled to be held in May last year, however, due to the fast-spreading COVID-19 pandemic, it had to be put on hold.
In the most prominent awards, veteran actor Rajinikanth was honoured by the Dadasaheb Phalke Award while actress Kangana received the Best Actress Award for the Bollywood films Panga and Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi. Meanwhile, Manoj Bajpayee and Dhanush both received an award each for Best Actor for the Hindi film Bhonsle and the Tamil film Asuran respectively. While Bollywood film Chhichhore won the Best Film award, director Nitesh Tiwari dedicated the honour to the Late Sushant Singh Rajput who had headlined the film.
Besides these, veteran actress Pallavi Joshi was the winner of the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in the Hindi film The Tashkent Files and musician B Praak received the Best Male Playback Singer honour for the Bollywood title Kesari. The Hindi film Bahattar Hoorain‘s Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan won the Best Director award, and Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri received the honour for the Best Screenplay (Dialogue Writer) for The Tashkent Files. The Best Children’s Film award went to the Hindi film Kastoori.
Meanwhile, other prominent awards received by films from other parts of India include Priyadarshan‘s Malayalam war epic Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea, which sees Mohanlal playing the titular role. It won the Best Feature Film award. Tamil star Vijay Sethupathi was honoured as the Best Supporting Actor for the Super Deluxe. Also, the award for the Best Music Director was received by D Imman for the Tamil title Viswasam.
There are many other awards that were given away for various categories in the Non-Feature section as well. Interestingly, the award for the Most Film Friendly State went to Sikkim. So, if you want to shoot a film, you know where to go! Meanwhile, I feel so so blessed to be born in a country that is so rich in its culture and arts.