Actor Kangana Ranaut (L) greets Rajinikanth as they attend the 67th National Film and Dadasaheb Phalke Awards 2019 in New Delhi

New Delhi: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday conferred the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award on Tamil superstar Rajinikanth and honoured a galaxy of personalities related to cinema, including Dhanush, Priyadarshan, Resul Pookutty, Manoj Bajpayee and Kangana Ranaut, with National Film Awards.

The 67th National Film awards for 2019 were announced in March this year, and were delayed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Addressing the function finally held in a physical format after a two-year delay, Naidu said he was happy that regional films had dominated the list of award winners. He also urged filmmakers and actors to use cinema to generate “positivity and happiness”.

“Films should be vehicles with a higher purpose... We should focus on creating cinema which is entertaining, gives us solace, some message, reduces our tension and makes us think positively. Don’t be obstructive, be constructive,” he said, asking film makers to shun violence, vulgarity and obscenity.

Union information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur, on the other hand, praised the Indian film industry’s continuous efforts to keep the people entertained amid the pandemic. “If vaccines can be made available to the rich and poor, entertainment too should reach the rich and poor equally,” Thakur said.

He also emphasised last-mile connectivity of entertainment products for the masses in far flung areas and said the film fraternity should consider “simpler” methods of reaching audiences for whom high-end theatres and multiplexes are beyond reach.

In his acceptance speech, Rajinikanth thanked his mentor, late filmmaker K Balachander, his brother Sathyanarayana Rao, and his “friend, driver and transport colleague Raj Bahadur”, who spotted his acting talent when he was a bus conductor. “He spotted the acting talent in me and encouraged me to join cinema. All my producers and directors who have produced my films, technicians, artists, distributors, media, press and all my fans, and Tamil people... ,” Rajinikanth said after receiving Indian cinema’s highest honour.

Director Priyadarshan’s Malayalam film ‘Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham’ was awarded the best feature film, while Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan received the best director trophy for his Hindi film ‘Bahattar Hoorain’, Dhanush was awarded for his role in Tamil film ‘Asuran’, while Manoj Bajpayee was awarded for his performance in ‘Bhosle’. Ranaut, on the other hand, won best actress for her performance in ‘Manikarnika’ and ‘Panga’. Actors Pallavi Joshi and Vijay Sethupathi got best supporting actress and best supporting actor awards for their performances in films ‘The Tashkent Files’ and ‘Super Deluxe’, respectively.

Nitesh Tiwari directorial ‘Chhichhore’ was given the best Hindi film honour and the movie’s producer, Sajid Nadiadwala, dedicated the award to the lead star of the movie, late actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

Singer B Praak said he was full of “tears and gratitude” on receiving the National Award for best male playback singer. The award for the best female playback singer was given to Savani Ravindra for “Raan Petala” from Marathi feature ‘Bardo’.

The Nargis Dutt Award for best feature film on national integration was given to the makers of ‘Tajmahal’ (Marathi), while the best film on social issues trophy went to ‘Anandi Gopal’ (Marathi). The Indira Gandhi Award for best debut film of a director was given to Mathukutty Xavier for ‘Helen’ (Malayalam). Naga Vishal won the best child artist trophy for Tamil film ‘Kruppu Durai’.

In the non-feature film category, 22 titles were given National Film Awards.

The National Award for the most film-friendly state was given to Sikkim, while Sanjay Suri’s book ‘A Gandhian Affair: India’s Curious Portrayal Of Love In Cinema’ was named the best book on cinema.