At 59, Shah Rukh Wins 1st National Award

Hindi cinema dominated the 71st National Film Awards on Friday with superstar Shah Rukh Khan winning his career's first best actor award for Jawan alongside Vikrant Massey for 12th Fail, which was named the best feature film.

The awards, announced for 2023 by jury head and filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker, recognised Bollywood star Rani Mukerji in the best actress category for Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway. It is also her career's first National Film Award.

'I'm overwhelmed to have won the National award for my performance in Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway... For me, this award is also a validation of my 30-year body of work, my dedication to my craft with which I feel a deeply spiritual connection and my passion for cinema and this beautiful film industry of ours,' Mukerji, 47, said in a statement.

Gowariker, who directed Shah Rukh in 2004's Swades, said the 59-year-old actor was recognised for 'delivering a powerhouse performance, balancing raw intensity and emotional depth and bringing to life a hero who fights not just enemy but societal boundaries, creating two unforgettable cinema personas'.

Jawan, which minted over Rs 1,100 crore (Rs 11 billion) at the worldwide box office, was a high-octane thriller from South filmmaker Atlee and featured SRK in the dual role of army officer Vikram Rathore and his jailor son Azad.

The filmmaker said it was 'quite historic' that one of the biggest stars of Indian cinema got an award for best acting at the National Film Awards 'after such a long and prolific career'.

Shah Rukh is counted amongst the top stars of Indian cinema ever since he made his debut in 1992 with the Hindi film Deewana.

'Yes, it is amazing... Him getting (the award) for Jawan is something that is great because he's played a double role in that,' Gowariker told reporters after the announcement.

The jury praised Massey's performance as one that portrayed the transformative journey of a village boy with "raw honesty and emotional depth".

In a statement, Massey, 38, said it was a dream come true moment for him.

'I am eternally grateful to the audiences for honouring my performances and for recommending this film with such love. It is a privilege to be sharing my first National Award with an icon like Shah Rukh Khan,' he added.

Filmmaker Karan Johar's Rocky Aur Rani Kii Kahaani was named the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment while the Meghna Gulzar-directorial Sam Bahadur was recognised as the best film promoting national, social and environmental values.

'I am ecstatic and overwhelmed to win the National Award for a film exceptionally close to my heart Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. I am grateful to the jury and continue to be humbled by the enormous love the film continues to receive,' Johar, 53, said in a statement.

Vaibhavi Merchant won the best choreography award for Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani song Dhindhora Baaje. Shilpa Rao was named best female playback singer for Jawan track Chaleya.

The biopic on Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, Sam Bahadur was also named in categories for make-up and costume.

"Immense honour and gratitude, there's serenity in me. I know how much my parents particularly my father was missing this (National Award) for me. So, for me this is something that has been filled for him. For me that's what makes it so special and for it to happen on Sam Bahadur is all the more special," Meghna, cinema veterans Gulzar and actor Raakhee's daughter, told PTI.

Filmmaker Sudipto Sen won the best director award for his film The Kerala Story, which also bagged the honour for best cinematography. The film had courted controversy for its portrayal of women in Kerala being forcefully converted and recruited by terror group Islamic State.

'It's a difficult topic, and to convey that with this kind of clarity is something that we as a jury felt was the need to applaud,' Gowariker said when asked why The Kerala Story was chosen for best direction.

The Sanya Malhotra-starrer Kathal: A Jackfruit Mystery was named the best Hindi film.

While Hindi cinema ruled in the main categories, regional movies were recognised in categories such as best supporting actor as well as actress and in technical segments.

Vijayaraghavan for the Malayalam film Pookalam, Muthupettai Somu Bhaskar for the Tamil film Parking shared the best supporting actor trophy.

The best supporting actress honour went to Urvashi for the Malayalam movie Ullozhokku and Janki Bodiwala for the Gujarati film Vash. Both movies won best films in their respective language segments.

Ashish Bende's Marathi film Aatmapamphlet bagged the award for the best debut film of a director.

Best Film in AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming & Comic) went to the Telugu film Hanu-Man, which also won the best action direction award.

Animal, another Hindi blockbuster of 2023, won awards for best sound design, best music director (background music) and a special mention for re-recording mixer.

The National Award for best screenplay was shared between the Telugu movie Baby and the Tamil film Parking. Baby singer P V N S Rohit was recognised as the best male playback singer for the song Premisthunna.

The best music director for songs went to G V Prakash for Tamil movie Vaathi. Kasarla Shyam was named best lyricist for Telugu movie Balagam song Ooru Palleturu.

Deepak Kingrani was named best dialogue writer for the Manoj Bajpayee-fronted Hindi film Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai and the best editing went to the Malayalam title Pookkaalam and production design to another Malayalam movie 2018.

Sukriti Veni Bandreddi (Gandhi Tatha Chettu), Kabir Khandare (Gypsy) and Naal 2 cast members Treesha Thosar, Shrinivas Pokale, and Bhargav Jagtap were recognised in the best child artists category. Naal 2 was also named best children's film.

In the language film categories, the winners were -- Rongatapu 1982 (Assamese), Deep Fridge (Bengali), Parking (Tamil), Kandeelu (Kannada), Shamchi Aai (Marathi), Puskara (Odia), Godday Godday Chaa (Punjabi) and Bhagavanth Kesari (Telugu).

The winners for various non-feature categories were also announced with Hindi movie Flowering Man being named the best film, while the best documentary went to God Vulture and Human.

The best director award was bagged by Piyush Thakur for The First Film and the best script went to Chidananda Nayak's Kannada short film Sunflowers were the First Ones to Know.

Here is the list of winners for the 71st National Film Awards for 2023:

Feature Film Category

Best Feature Film: Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 12th Fail

Best Direction: Sudipto Sen's The Kerala Story

Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani by Karan Johar

Best Debut Film of a Director: Aatmapamphlet by Ashish Bende

Best Actor: Shah Rukh Khan for Jawan, Vikrant Massey for 12th Fail

Best Actress: Rani Mukerji for Mrs Chatterjee v/s Norway

Best Supporting Actor: Vijayaraghavan for Pookkaalam, Muthupettai Somu Bhaskar for Parking

Best Supporting Actress: Urvashi for Ullozhukku, Janki Bodiwala for Vash

Best Film in Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comic: Hanu-Man by Prasanth Varma

Best Feature Film promoting National, Social, and Environmental Values: Sam Bahadur by Meghna Gulzar

Best Children's Film: Naal 2 by Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti

Best Child Artist: Sukriti Veni Bandreddi for Gandhi Tatha Chettu, Kabir Khandare for Gypsy, Treesha Thosar, Shrinivas Pokale and Bhargav Jagtap for Naal 2

Best Cinematography: Prasantanu Mohapatra for The Kerala Story

Best Screenplay: Sai Rajesh Neelam for Baby, Ramkumar Balakrshnan for Parking

Best Dialogue Writer: Deepak Kingrani for Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai

Best Production Design: Mohandas for Everyone Is A Hero

Best Action Direction (Stunt Choreography): Nandu and Prudhvi for Hanu-Man (Telugu)

Best Make-Up Artist: Shrikant Desai for Sam Bahadur

Best Costume Design: Sachin Lovalekar, Divvya Gambhir and Nidhhi Gambhir for Sam Bahadur

Best Music Direction for Songs: G V Prakash Kumar for Vaathi (Tamil)

Best Music Direction for Background Scores: Harshavardhan Rameshwar for Animal

Best Lyrics: Kasarla Shyam for Ooru Palleturu in Balagam

Best Male Playback Singer: P V N S Rohit for Baby (Premisthunna)

Best Female Playback Singer: Shilpa Rao for Chaliya in Jawan

Best Choreography: Vaibhavi Merchant for Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (Dhindhora Baje Re)

Best Sound Design: Sachin Sudhakaran and Hariharan Muralidharan for Animal

Best Editing: Midhun Murali for Pookkaalam

Special Mention: Animal (Re-Recording Mixer), M R Rajakrishnan (Hindi)

Best Gujarati Film: Vash (Hypnosis) by Krishnadev Yagnik

Best Garo Film: Rimdogittanga (Rapture) by Dominic Megam Sangma

Best Assamese Film: Rongatapu 1982 by Adityam Saikia

Best Bengali Film: Deep Fridge by Arjun Dutta

Best Hindi Film: Kathal: A Jackfruit Mystery by Yashowardhan Mishra

Best Kannada Film:/strong>: Kandeelu - The Ray of Hope by K Yashoda Prakash

Best Malayalam Film: Ullozhukku by Christo Tomy

Best Marathi Film: Shyamchi Aai by Sujay Sunil Dahake

Best Odia Film: Pushkara by Subhransu Das

Best Punjabi Film: Godday Godday Chaa by Vijay Kumar Arora

Best Tamil Film: Parking by Ramkumar Balakrishnan

Best Telugu Film: Bhagavanth Kesari by Anil Ravipudi

Non-Feature Film category

Best Non-Feature Film: Flowering Man by Soumyajit Ghosh Dastidar

Best Documentary: God Vulture and Human by Rishiraj Agarwal

Best Non-Feature Film Direction: Piyush Thakur for The First Film

Best Script: Chidananda Naik for Sunflowers Were The First Ones To Know

Best Narration/Voice Over: Harikrishnan S for The Sacred Jack - Exploring The Tree of Wishes (English)

Best Editing: Niladri Roy - Moving Focus

Best Sound Design: Shubharun Sengupta - Dhundhgiri Ke Phool

Best Cinematography: Saravanamaruthu Soundarapandi and Meenakshi Sonam for Little Wings

Best Short Film: Giddh The Scavenger by Manish Saini

Best Debut Film of a Director: The Spirit Dreams of Cheraw (Mizo) by Shilpika Bordoloi

Best Non-Feature Film Music Direction: Pranil Desai for The First Film

Best Arts and Culture Film: Timeless Tamil Nadu by Kamakhya Narayan Singh

Best Biographical/Historical Reconstruction/Compilation Film: Mo Bou, Mo Gaan by Subash Sahoo; Lentina Ao by Sanjib Parasar

Best Non-Feature Film Promoting Social and Environmental Values: The Silent Epidemic by Akshat Gupta

Special Mention: Chronicle Of The Paddy Man by M K Ramadas; The Sea and Seven Villages by Himansu Sekhar Khatua

Best Film Critic: Utpal