National Film Awards: Rishab Shetty is Best Actor; Nithya Menen, Manasi Parekh share Best Actress

 New Delhi, Aug 16: At the 70th National Film Awards 2024 on Friday, Rishabh Shetty was named the Best Actor for his performance in Kannada film ‘Kantara’, while Nithya Menen and Manasi Parekh shared the Best Actress honour for their performances in ‘Thiruchitrambalam’ and ‘Kutch Express’ respectively. ‘Aattam’, the Malayalam language suspense chamber drama film written and directed by Anand Ekarshi, was named in three categories including Best Film, Best Editing and Best Screenplay.

Filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya was feted with the Best Director for the film ‘Uunchai’ starring Amitabh Bachchan. Acclaimed actor Manoj Bajpayee won a Special Mention award for ‘Gulmohar’, which was also named the Best Hindi Film. ‘Gulmohar’, which also stars Sharmila Tagore, follows a multi-generation family who are all set to move out of their 34-year-old family home. ‘Kantara: Chapter 1’, which stars Rishab in a dual role with Kambala champion who is at loggerheads with an upright forest officer, Murali, won the Best Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting revealed the winners on Friday in New Delhi. The winners, including the recipient of the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award, will be honoured by President Droupadi Murmu in a ceremony scheduled for October 2024.

The awards were announced by the Chairperson of the Feature Film Jury, Rahul Rawail; Nila Madhab Panda, Chairperson of the Non-Feature Film Jury; and Gangadhar Mudalair, Chairperson of the Best Writing on Cinema Jury. In the Supporting Role category, Pavan Raj Malhotra won the award for his work in the Haryanvi film ‘Fouja’, while Neena Gupta won the honour for her work in ‘Uunchai’, which tells the tale of three retired friends, who go on a trek to Everest Base Camp to fulfil their dying friend’s last wish.

Filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s ‘Ponniyin Selvan 1’, an epic action drama based on Kalki Krishnamurthy’s 1955 novel titled ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ won four honours including Best Tamil Film, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Design and Best Music Director (Background Music). Yash-starrer ‘KGF Chapter 2’ won two honours including the National Film Award for Best Kannada Film and Best Action Direction. Nikhil Siddhartha-starrer ‘Karthikeya 2’ was named the Best Telugu film at the 70th National Film Awards. Music Composer Pritam won the Best Music award for Hindi film ‘Brahmastra’, which also won the Best Film in AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comic).

Singer Arijit Singh won in the category of Best Male Playback Singer for song ‘Kesariya’ picturised on Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt from ‘Brahmastra’, which tells the story of Shiva and Isha, who learn about the secrets of the Brahmastra. Best Female Playback Singer award was given to Bombay Jayashri for the Malayalam film ‘Saudi Vellakka’. ‘Emuthi Puthi’ (Assamese), ‘Kaberi Antardhan’ (Bengali), ‘Saudi Vellakka’ (Malayalam), ‘Vaalvi’ (Marathi), ‘Daman’ (Odia) and ‘Baghi Di Dhee’ (Punjabi) won the Best Feature films in regional languages.