NEW DELHI : Tamil movie, Devgn-starrer win big at National Film Awards

NEW DELHI: Tamil film ‘Soorarai Pottru’ swept the 68th National Film Awards for films released in 2020, winning awards in five categories, even as the other big winner of the day was Ajay Devgn starrer ‘Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior’, which won the ‘best popular film providing wholesome entertainment’.
Suriya, who won the best actor for ‘Soorarai Pottru’, shared his award with Devgn. ‘Soorarai Pottru’ also bagged the best feature film, best actress, best music direction (score) and best original screenplay prizes.

‘Tanhaji. . . ’ also won the best costume designer for Nachiket Barve and Mahesh Sherla. Devgn has previously won the National Film Award for best actor for his performances in ‘Zakhm’ (1998) and ‘The Legend of Bhagat Singh’ (2002). He is receiving the honour for the third time.
Madhya Pradesh won the award for the most film friendly state, while Uttarakhand and UP won special mentions in the same category.

Malayalam filmmaker Sachidanandan KR was posthumously named best director for ‘Ayyappanum Koshiyum’, which won best supporting actor for Biju Menon, best action direction (stunt choreography) and best playback female singer for Nanchamma.

The best playback singer male was given to Rahul Deshpande for Marathi film ‘Mi Vasantrao’. ‘Toolsidas Junior’ won the best Hindi film award, and child actor Varun Buddhadev also received a special jury mention.

In the music category, Thaman S won the best music direction (songs) for Allu Arjun’s Telugu hit ‘Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo’. Best lyrics was given to Manoj Muntashir for Hindi film ‘Saina’. Telugu movie ‘Natyam’ won awards for best make-up artist (TV Rambabu) and best choreography (Sandhya Raju). Tamil artiste Lakshmi Priya Chandramouli was named the best supporting actress for her work in Tamil movie ‘Sivaranjaniyum Innum Sila Pengallum’, which also received the best editing award for Sreekar Prasad.

Filmmaker Madonne Ashwin won the Indira Gandhi award for best debut film of adirector for his Tamil venture ‘Mandela’. He was also given the best dialogue writer prize for the film. Best cinematography award went to Supratim Bhol for the Bengali movie ‘Avijatrik’.