Have you heard? And the winners are…

THE TIMES OF INDIA (August 25, 2023)

New Delhi: ‘The Kashmir Files’, Vivek Agnihotri’s controversial film on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley, bagged the Nargis Dutt Award for best feature film on national integration at the 69th National Film Awards announced Thursday. Pallavi Joshi won best supporting actress for the film.

The National Awards for 2021, announced by filmmaker Ketan Mehta, declared Nikhil Mahajan best director for Marathi film ‘Godavari’.

The Indira Gandhi Award for best debut film went to ‘Meppadiyan’ in Malayalam while the prize for best film on social issues went to Assamese ‘Anunaad-the Resonance’. Telugu blockbuster ‘RRR’, which won six awards, saw M M Keeravani share the best music direction award with Devi Sri Prasad for ‘Pushpa’.

Asked about films releasing theatrically in 2022 winning the awards for 2021, Neerja Sekhar, I&B additional secretary, said, “As per regulations, the eligible films were certified and released from 1st January 2021 to December 31, 2021.”
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THE TIMES OF INDIA (August 25, 2023)

New Delhi: Hindi feature film ‘Rocketry: The Nambi Effect’ was adjudged best feature film in the National Awards 2021 announced on Thursday.

Allu Arjun, Alia Bhatt and Kriti Sanon won top acting honours for their roles in ‘Pushpa: The Rise (Part I)’, ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ and ‘Mimi’ respectively. Pankaj Tripathi won the award for best supporting actor for ‘Mimi’. Shoojit Sircar’s biopic ‘Sardar Udham’ won the award for best Hindi film as well as honours for best cinematography, audiography (re-recording final mixing), production design and costume design.

‘RRR’, directed by S S Rajamouli, won six awards including best popular film providing wholesome entertainment, best male playback singer to Kalabhairava, special effects, action director and choreography.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s biopic ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ was a close second with five awards. While Alia Bhatt won best actress, Bhansali won the award for best editing and screenplay writer (adapted), both jointly with Utkarshini Vashishtha.

Shreya Ghoshal won the best female playback award for her song ‘Mayava Chaayavaa’ for the film ‘Iravin Ninzhal’. The best original screenplay award, meanwhile, went to Malayalam film ‘Nayattu’ and its writer Shahi Kabir.
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MID-DAY (August 24, 2023)

Feature Film Awards:

Special mention: Kadaisi Vivasayi - Late Shri Nallandi, Jhilli - Aranya Gupta & Bithan Biswas, Home - Indrans, Anu: Eyes On The Sunshine - Jahanara Begum

Best Feature Film in each language: 
Mishing: Boomba Rise
Assamese: Anur (Eyes On The Sunshine) 
Bengali: Kalkokkho-House Of Time 
Hindi: Sardar Udham 
Gujarati: Chhello Show
Kannada: 777 Charlie 
Maithili: Samanantar (The Parallel) 
Marathi: Ekda Kay Zala 
Malayalam: Home 
Meiteilion: Eikhoigi Yum (Our Home)
Odia: Pratikshya (The Wait) 
Tamil: Kadaisi Vivasayi (The Last Farmer) 
Telugu: Uppena (Wave) 

Technical Awards:

Best Action Direction: King Soloman for RRR (Telugu) 

Best Choreography: Prem Rakshith for RRR

Best Special Effects: V Srinivas Mohan for RRR

Special Jury Awards: Shershaah director Vishnu Vardhan 

Best Lyrics: Chandrabose for 'Konda Polam' song from Dham Dham Dham

Best Music Direction: Devi Sri Prasad for 'Pushpa' and M M Keeravani for 'RRR' 

Best makeup artist: Preetisheel Singh D'Souza For 'Gangubai Kathiawadi'

Best Costume Award: Veera Kapur Ee for Sardar Udham

Best Production Designer: Dmitrii Malich & Mansi Dhruv Mehta for Sardar Udham 

Best Editing: Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Gangubai Kathiawadi

Best Audiography: Chavittu, Jhilli and Sardar Udham

Best Screenplay: Shahi Kabir for Nayattu (original) and Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Gangubai Kathiawadi (Adapted)

Best Dialogue Writer: Utkarshini Vashishtha and Prakash Kapadia for Gangubai Kathiawadi 

Best Cinematography: Avik Mukhopadhayay for Sardar Udham

Best Female Playback Singer: Shreya Ghoshal for Maayava Chaayavaa from Iravin Nizhal

Best Male Playback Singer: Kaala Bhairava for Komuram Bheemudo for RRR

Best Child Artist: Bhavin Rabari (Chelloo Show)

Best Supporting Actress: Pallavi Joshi for The Kashmir Files

Best Supporting Actor: Pankaj Tripathi for Mimi 

Best Actress: Kriti Sanon for Mimi and Alia Bhatt for Gangubai Kathiawadi

Best Actor: Allu Arjun for Pushpa 

Best Direction: Nikhil Mahajan for Godavari

Best Feature Film: Rocketry: The Nambi Effect

NON-FEATURE FILM CATEGORY:

Best Non-Feature Film: Ek Tha Gaon (Garhwali & Hindi)

Best Director: Bakual Matiyani for Smile Please (Hindi)

Best Film on Family Values: Chand Saanse (Hindi)

Best Cinematographer: Bittu Rawat for Pataal Tee (Bhotiya)

Best Investigative Film: Looking For Challan (English)

Best Educational Film: Sirpigalin Sipangal (Tamil)

Best Film on Social Issues: Mithu Di (English), Three Two One (Marathi & Hindi)

Best Environmental Films: Munnam Valavu (Malayalam)

Best Book on Cinema: Music by Laxmikant Pyarelal: The Incredibly Melodious Journey by Rajiv Vijayakar

Best Film Critic: Purushothama Charyulu

Best Film Critic (Special Mention): Subramanya Bandoor