South Indian cinema dominates 70th National Film Awards

The winners of the 70th National Film Awards of India have officially been unveiled today. The country's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting released the list of award recipients, which shows that in the ongoing competition between Bollywood and South Indian cinema, the latter has once again taken the lead.

The National Film Awards were officially announced during a press conference held at the National Media Center in New Delhi at around 1:30pm today. Ultimately, the Malayalam film "Aattam" unexpectedly claimed the Best Film Award and the Best Actor Award also went to a South Indian actor.

The 2023 film "Gulmohar", featuring Sharmila Tagore and Manoj Bajpayee, was honoured with the Best Hindi Film Award at the 70th National Film Awards. This family drama also included performances by Simran, Suraj Sharma, Amol Palekar, and Kaveri Seth among others. "Gulmohar" was well-received both by audiences and critics alike, earning widespread acclaim.

Kannada actor Rishab Shetty proved his exceptional talent by securing the Best Actor Award at the 70th National Film Awards for his role in "Kantara". The Best Actress award was shared by Nithya Menen and Manasi Parekh, with Nithya receiving the accolade for her performance in "Thiruchitrambalam" and Mansi for her role in "Kutch Express". Sooraj Barjatya was recognised as Best Director for his work on "Uunchai".

Arijit Singh once again impressed everyone by winning the Best Playback Singer Award for singing "Kesariya" in the film "Brahmastra". Notably, AR Rahman secured his seventh National Film Award this year for composing the background score in Mani Ratnam's 2022 film "Ponniyin Selvan: I".

Meanwhile, the award for Best Bengali Film was given to Kaushik Ganguly's "Kaberi Antardhan". Sanjoy Chowdhury, son of Salil Chowdhury, was awarded the Special Jury Mention for his work on the Malayalam film "Khadhikan".

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Here is the full list of winners:

Best Feature Film: "Aattam" (The Play)
Best Debut Film of a Director: "Fouja"
Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: "Kantara"
Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social and Environmental Values: "Kutch Express"
Best Film in AVGC: "Brahmastra Part One: Shiva"
Best Direction: Sooraj Barjatya for "Uunchai"
Best Actor in a Leading Role: Rishab Shetty for "Kantara"
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Nithya Menen for "Thiruchitrambalam" (Tamil) and Manasi Parekh for "Kutch Express" (Gujarati)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Pavan Malhotra for "Fouja" (Haryanvi)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Neena Gupta for "Uunchai" (Hindi)
Best Child Artist: Sreepath for "Malikappuram" (Malayalam)
Best Male Playback Singer: Arijit Singh for "Kesariya" from "Brahmastra Part 1: Shiva" (Hindi)
Best Female Playback Singer: Bombay Jayashri for "Saudi Vellakka CC.225/2009" (Malayalam)
Best Cinematography: Ravi Varman for "Ponniyin Selvan: I" (Tamil)
Best Dialogue Writer: Arpita Mukherjee and Rahul V Chittella for "Gulmohar" (Hindi)
Best Screenplay: Anand Ekarshi for "Aattam" (The Play)
Best Sound Design: Anand Krishnamoorthi for "Ponniyin Selvan: I"
Best Editing: Mahesh Bhuvanend for "Aattam" (The Play)
Best Production Design: Ananda Addhya for "Aparajito" (Bengali)
Best Costume Designer: Niki Joshi for "Kutch Express" (Gujarati)
Best Make-up: Somnath Kundu for "Aparajito" (Bengali)
Best Music Director (Songs): Pritam for "Brahmastra Part 1: Shiva" (Hindi)
Best Music Director (BGM): AR Rahman for "Ponniyin Selvan: I" (Tamil)
Best Lyrics: Naushad Sardar Khan for "Fouja" (Haryanvi)
Best Choreography: Jani Master and Sathish Krishnan for "Thiruchitrambalam" (Tamil)
Best Action Direction Award: Anbariv for "KGF Chapter 2" (Kannada)
Best Assamese Film: "Emuthi Puthi"
Best Bengali Film: "Kaberi Antardhan"
Best Hindi Film: "Gulmohar"
Best Kannada Film: "KGF Chapter 2"
Best Marathi film: "Vaalvi"
Best Malayalam film: "Saudi Vellakka CC.225/2009"
Best Odia film: "Daman"
Best Punjabi film: "Baghi Di Dhee"
Best Tamil film: "Ponniyin Selvan: I"
Best Telugu film: "Daivam Manushya"
Best Tiwa film: "Sikaisal"
Special Mention:
"Gulmohar" (Hindi)
Actor: Manoj Bajpayee
"Kadhikan" (Malayalam)
Music Director: Sanjoy Sail Chowdhury