The 69th National Film Awards honoured the best of Indian cinema, with several first time winners this year. The acting honours winners shone particularly bright for the Hindi film industry with three of four big acting category winners being stars of Hindi movies.
Alia Bhatt and Kriti Sanon emerged as the victors of the coveted Best Actress accolade, for their performances in "Gangubai Kathiawadi" and "Mimi". Bhatt played a formidable brother owner in Mumbai’s red light area Kamathipura and delivered a top-notch performance in the Sanjay Leela Bhansali starrer. The movie took inspiration from the writings on Kathiawadi in the book ‘Mafia Queens of Mumbai’ written by S. Hussain Zaidi.
Kriti Sanon won for “Mimi” where she played a pregnant surrogate mother abandoned by the child’s family leaving her to love and care for the baby amid familial and societal struggles. She gained a significant amount of weight for her role and delivered an impactful performance.
Her co-star in the movie Pankaj Tripathi won the Best Supporting Actor award for his fitting turn, where he lent his persona to a character that straddled both humour and heart.
The coveted best actor award went to Allu Arjun, the lead of the blockbuster "Pushpa: The Rise”. It is worth noting that these laurels mark the first National Awards for all three actors (Arjun, Bhatt and Sanon). Tripathi had won a “Special Mention” for “Newton” before.
Pallavi Joshi won the Best Supporting Actress for her arresting portrayal in "The Kashmir Files," that also won the award for Best Film on National Integration. She won in the same category for "The Tashkent Files" before.
Shoojit Sircar’s “Sardar Udham Singh” won the best Hindi film while R Madhavan’s “Rocketry: The Nambi Effect” won Best Film.
The National Film Awards trace their lineage back to their inception in 1954 as the 'State Awards’. However, it was not until 1967 that the canvas broadened, bestowing due recognition upon the thespians and technical artists.
Nargis clinched the inaugural Best Actress trophy for her riveting portrayal in "Raat Aur Din." The Best Actor award went to Uttam Kumar for his masterful performances in "Antony Firingee" and "Chiriyakhana”.
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