64th National Film Awards: Bollywood wins big, but regional movies steal the show

- Sidharth Sharma

India’s most coveted film awards, the National Film Awards have been announced today. While most of the top acting honors went to Bollywood’s kitty, a large majority of technical awards and special jury awards were bagged by regional cinema. 

Among the Bollywood biggies, Sonam Kapoor starrer ‘Neerja’ won the Best Film (Hindi) award while Amitabh-Taapsee starrer ‘Pink’ took home the award for Best Film on Social Issue. But the real surprise comes in the form of Akshay Kumar, who won his first ever National award in the ‘Best Actor’ category for his film ‘Rustom’. Surprised? Even we are!

Critically acclaimed movies like 'Neerja' and 'Pink' managed to bag some major honors

Even the Children weren’t far behind this time, with Zaira Wasim winning the ‘Best Supporting Actress’ award for her role in ‘Dangal’ and ‘Dhanak’ winning the ‘Best Children’s Film’.

 Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment - Sathamanam Bhavathi

Best Actor - Akshay Kumar (Rustom)

Akshay Kumar wins his first ever National Award for his role in Rustom

Best Actress - Surabhi Lakshmi (Minnaminungu)

Best Supporting Actress - Zaira Wasim (Dangal)

Zaira Wasim wins the 'Best Supporting Actress' award for her breakthrough performance in 'Dangal'

Best Children’s Film - Dhanak (Hindi)

Best Film on Social Issue - Pink

Best Direction - Rajesh (Ventilator)

Best Child Artist - Adhish Praveen (Kunju Daivam), Saj (Noor Islam), Manohara (Railway Children)

Best Animation- Hum Chitra Banate Hain

Best Stunt Choreography - Vysakh (Pulimurugan)

Best Male Playback Singer - Sundara Iyer (Joker)

Best Female Playback Singer - Iman Chakraborty (Thume Jaake)

Best Screenplay (original) - Syam Pushkaran (Maheshinte Prathikaram)

Best Screenplay (adapted) - Sanjay Krishnaji Patel (Dashakriya)

Best Editing - Rameshwar (Ventilator)

Best Visual effects- Shivaay

Ajay Devgn's directorial venture, Shivaay won the best visual effects award

Sound Designer - Jayadevan (Kaadu Pookunna Neram)

Best Production Design - 24

Best Costume Designer - Sachin (Marathi film)

Best Environmental film (including agriculture) - The Tiger who crossed the line.

Best Non-Feature film- Fireflies in the Abyss.

Best Make-up Artist - MK Ramakrishna

Best Music Direction - Babu Padmanabha (Kannada Lama)

Special Mention - Kadvi Hawa, Mukthi bhavan (Hindi Feature Film), Adil Hussain (Actor) and Sonam Kapoor (Actress)

Special Jury award- Mohanlal for Pulimurugan, Janatha Garage and Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbol

South-star Mohanlal wins the Special Jury Award

Most film friendly state- Uttar Pradesh

Best feature films in regional languages
Madipur (Tulu)
Joker (Tamil)
Wrongside Raju (Gujarati)
Pelli Chupulu (Telugu)
Dashakriya (Marathi)
Bisarjan (Bengali)
Maheshinte Prathikaram (Malayalam)
Ke Sara Sara (Konkani)
Reservation (Kannada)
Neerja (Hindi)

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