Regional films rule at National awards

"Deool" won its lead star Girish Kulkarni the National award for best actor at the awards where except for Balan, the awards in key categories went to regional films.
Directed by Umesh Kulkarni, "Deool" is a wonderfully authentic depiction of village life and a penetrating account of commercialisation of religion.

"It is a great moment for us as we worked hard on the film for two years. It was a closely knit team. It is very encouraging for us who want to make movies without compromising on content. I am really happy for Girish. He is a very versatile and genuine actor," Umesh told PTI.

"Byari", the first feature film in the Byari language, conveys the trauma of a woman who has to deal with unjust religious strictures.

Gurvinder Singh from Punjab won the best direction award for his film "Anhe Ghorey Da Daan".

Tamil film "Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai" was named the best popular film while its lead Appu Kutty won the best supporting actor award.

Leishangthem Tonthoingambi Devi was named the best supporting actress for her role in Manipuri film "Phijigee Mani".

Onir`s "I Am", a compilation four different stories about identity, was named the best Hindi film. The film also won in the best lyrics category for Amitabh Bhattacharya-written `Agar Zindagi`. "I am numb right now, this is so unexpected! It gives me so much strength to continue with such work. This award comes at a time when I was disheartened that `I Am` didn`t get due recognition. And now it has been noticed by the most prestigious award of our country," said Onir.

The film`s star Sanjay Suri said, "The award is a double achievement for me as an actor and a producer. These awards are so out of reach and being acknowledged by them is a proud moment."

Bollywood films won in children`s film categories with Salman Khan`s "Chillar Party" bagging the best children film award while 10 kid stars from the film shared the best child artist award with Partho Gupte from "Stanley Ka Dabba".

Vikas Behl and Manish Tiwari won the original screenplay award for "Chillar Party", while the adapted screenplay award went to Avinash Deshpande Nigdi for Marathi film "Shala".

Bosco-Caeser won the best choreography award for the song `Senorita` from Bollywood film "Zindagi Naa Milegi Dobara" while Shah Rukh Khan starrer "Ra.One" was given the award for best special effects.

Milan Luthra-directed "The Dirty Picture" shared best costume and make-up award with Marathi film "Balgandharva".

The Indira Gandhi award for the best debut film of a director went to Tamil filmmaker Kumararaja Thiagarajan for his movie "Aaranyakandam". Anjan Dutt won a special mention by the jury for his versatility while his film "Ronjona Ami Aar Ashbona" bagged the best Bengali film award. The Best music direction (songs) went to Neel Dutt for the same film while Mayookh Bhowmick won the best background score award for Bengali film "Laptop".

"I am happy and overwhelmed, more so for my cast and everybody behind the film," said Anjan. Award for best male playback singer went to Anand Bhate for "Balgandharva", while Roopa Ganguly won the best female playback singer for the film "Abosheyshey".