National Awards: Rishab Shetty, Neena Gupta, Manoj Bajpayee Receive Their Prizes

70th National Awards: President Droupadi Murmu presented the awards

The 70th National Film Awards ceremony was held in New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan today and the awards were presented by President Droupadi Murmu. The 70th National Film Awards, celebrating the best work of the year 2022, were announced on August 16. The winners include Rishab Shetty (Best Actor), Nithya Menen and Manasi Parekh (Best Actress), Sooraj Barjatya (Best Director), Neena Gupta (Best Supporting Actress) and Pawan Malhotra (Best Supporting Actor) among others. Rishab Shetty won the award for his performance in Kantara while Nithya and Manashi shared the prize for their performances in the films Tiruchitrabalam and  Kutch Express respectively. Neena Gupta received the prize for the film Uunchai, which also brought Best Director award for Sooraj Barjatya. Pawan Malhotra won the award for Fouji. The Dada Saheb Phalke Award, India’s highest film honour, went to film veteran Mithun Chakraborty this year.

Gulmohar won the Best Hindi Feature Film award while Manoj Bajpayee was awarded the special mention for his performance in the film starring Sharmila Tagore. Karan Johar and Ayan Mukerji, A R Rahman, Mani Ratnam also attended the event. Sharmila Tagore, who played the “matriarch” in Gulmohar, showed up to cheer for the film.

Rishab Shetty, dressed in his traditional best, showed up to the event with his wife. When asked about to share his feelings about winning the recognition for Kantara, the actor said he wanted to portray the “conflict between human and nature” on the red carpet. He also said he believes in the concept “more regional and more global.”

Manoj Bajpayee wore a black bandhgala for the event. Sharing about his character in Gulmohar, the actor said on the red carpet, “The film establishes the importance of family and familial ties.” In the film, Manoj Bajpayee played Arun Batra, Kusum Batra’s (Sharmila Tagore’s) adopted son.

Neena Gupta looked lovely in a bright pink saree. Sharing about how she got the offer for Uunchai, Neena Gupta said on the red carpet, “For the last 30 years, I wanted to work with Sooraj Barjatya. When he called me, I couldn’t believe it. I acted with all the dhurandhar (brilliant) actors in the film. It’s a special film.”  

Here is the list of the full winners:

FEATURE CATEGORIES

Best Hindi Film – Gulmohar

Best Kannada Film – KGF: Chapter 2

Best Telugu Film – Karthikeya 2

Best Tamil Film – Ponniyin Selvan – Part 1

Best Punjabi Film – Baaghi Di Dhee

Best Odia Film – Daman

Best Malayalam Film – Saudi Velakka CC.225/2009

Best Marathi Film – Vaalvi

Best Feature Film – Aattam

Best Feature Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment – Kantara

Best Debut – Fouja, Pramod Kumar

Best Tiwa Film – Sikaisal

Best Bengali Film – Kaberi Antardhan

Best Assamese Film – Emuthi Puthi

Best Actor – Rishab Shetty, Kantara

Best Actress – Nithya Menen in Tiruchitrabalam, and Manasi Parekh in Kutch Express

Best Director – Sooraj Barjatya, Uunchai

Best Supporting Actress – Neena Gupta, Uunchai

Best Supporting Actor – Pawan Malhotra, Fouji

Special Mentions – Manoj Bajpayee in Gulmohar, and Sanjoy Salil Chowdhury for Kalikhan

Best Action Direction – KGF: Chapter 2

Best Choreography – Tiruchitrabalam

Best Lyrics – Fouja

Best Music Director – Pritam (Songs), AR Rahman (Background Score)

Best Makeup – Aparajito

Best Costumes – Kutch Express

Best Production Design – Aparajito

Best Editing – Aattam

Best Sound Design – Ponniyin Selvan – Part 1

Best Screenplay – Aattam

Best Dialogues – Gulmohar

Best Cinematography – Ponniyin Selvan – Part 1

Best Female Playback – Saudi Velakka CC.225/2009, Bombay Jayashri

Best Male Playback – Brahmastra, Arijit Singh

Best Child Artist – Sreepath in Mallikappuram

Best Film in AVGC – Brahmastra

Best Non-Feature Film Promoting Social and Environmental Values – Kutch Express

FILM WRITING

Best Critic – Deepak Dua

Best Book on Cinema – Kishore Kumar: The Ultimate Biography

NON-FEATURE CATEGORIES

Best Non-Feature Film – Ayena

Best Debut Film – Madhyantara

Best Biographical/Historical/Compilation Film – Aanakhi Ek Mohenjo Daro

Best Arts/Culture Film – Ranga Vibhoga/Varsa

Best Script – Mono No Aware

Best Narrator – Murmurs of the Jungle

Best Music Direction – Fursat

Best Editing – Madhyantara

Best Sound Design – Yaan

Best Cinematography – Mono No Aware

Best Direction – From the Shadow

Best Short Film – Xunyota

Best Animated Film – The Coconut Tree

Best Non-Feature Film Promoting Social and Environmental Values – On the Brink Season 2 – Gharial

Best Documentary – Murmurs of the Jungle