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The 70th National Film Awards winners were announced in Delhi on Friday, with director Anand Ekarshi’s 2023 Malayalam film Aattam (The Play) selected as the Best Feature Film. The film had earlier won the 2023 Grand Jury Award at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. It was the opening feature film at the 54th International Film Festival of India in Goa.
Actor Rishab Shetty bagged the Best Actor award for his role in the 2022 Kannada-language action-thriller Kantara, which was also written and directed by him. The film won critical acclaim after its release for its cinematic direction and powerful performances by the cast, which included Shetty’s dual role as Kantara and his son Shiva, both performers of a ritualistic dance performed as part of the worship of the local deities in Karnataka.
The Best Actress award was shared by Nithya Menen for the Tamil rom-com Thiruchitrambalam (2022) and Manasi Parekh for the Gujarati drama the Kutch Express (2023). Menen’s effortless portrayal of the warm and innocent Shobana showcased her depth as an actress in Thiruchitrambalam, which was directed by Mithran R Jawahar and saw actor Dhanush in a titular role. In the Kutch Express, Parekh essayed the protagonist, Monghi, a daughter-in-law and mother in a Kutchi household subjugated by her husband.
Sooraj Barjatya won the Best Director for his 2022 Hindi adventure drama Uunchai, which saw a star ensemble of veteran actors Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Neena Gupta and Sarika. The movie story revolves around three elderly friends who go on a trek to the Everest Base Camp, to fulfil their friend’s last wish. Barjatya shot the movie at various locations in Nepal and Kargil. Neena Gupta won the Best Supporting Actress award for Uunchai.
Music director A R Rahman won the Best Music Direction award (background music) in the feature film category for his work on Mani Ratnam’s 2022 action adventure Ponniyin Selvan: I. Pritam won Best Music Direction (Songs) in the feature film category for Ayan Mukherji’s Brahmastra Part One: Shiva.
Ponniyin Selvan: I won the most awards and Fouja, KGF 2, Brahmastra and Aparajito were among those that won multiple honours. The awards were
announced by chairperson of feature film jury Rahul Rawail, chairperson of non-feature film jury Nila Madhab Panda and chairperson of the best
writing on cinema jury Gangadhar Mudaliar.
The Marathi-language Murmurs Of The Jungle won the Best Documentary Award. Directed by Sohil Vaidya, the documentary explores our prehistoric relationship with forests through stories told by the inhabitants of an indigenous village of Maharashtra’s Western Ghats.
Xunyota (Void) won in the Best Short Film category. Directed by Nabapan Deka, the Assamese language short explores themes of grief and loss through the story of a young girl who loses her mother to a terminal illness.
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