‘Neerja’ among winners at India’s National Film Awards
MUMBAI: Fox Star Studios’ ‘Neerja’ won best Hindi language title at India’s National Film Awards announced on Friday.
The government’s annual awards, now in their 64th year, honour the best of Indian cinema across various languages.
This year, Marathi language titles picked up major honours with ‘Kasaav’ winning best feature film while best director went to Rajesh Mapuskar for ‘Ventilator’, produced by top Bollywood actress and Hollywood cross-over star Priyanka Chopra (‘Quantico’).
Real-life hijacking drama ‘Neerja’ also saw its lead actress Sonam Kapoor receive a special mention for her portrayal of air hostess Neerja Bhanot, who sacrificed her life to save the lives of passengers and crew of a PanAm flight hijacked in 1986 in Karachi, Pakistan. Directed by Ram Madhvani, the film was co-produced by Atul Kasbekar via his Bling Unplugged banner.
In a statement, Fox Star Studios India CEO Vijay Singh said that the recognition “gives us further confidence to back great stories and push the envelope on content.”
Best actor went to Akshay Kumar for Hindi film ‘Rustom’ while best actress went to Surabhi C.M for the Malayalam language title ‘Minnaminungu – The Firefly’.
The special jury award in the non-feature category was given to the acclaimed documentary ‘The Cinema Travellers’ which has won various international accolades including the Le prix du documentaire special jury prize at Cannes last year.
Mukti Bhavan (‘Hotel Salvation’), which saw its director Shubhashish Bhutiani winning the Unesco award for peace and human rights at Venice last year, was honoured with a special mention as was the film’s lead, actor Adil Hussain (‘Life of Pi’) for his performance as an overworked modern son who is forced to set his job aside and accompany his elderly father on a death trip to the holy city of Varanasi.
The best film on social issues was given to Hindi title ‘Pink’ while another Hindi title, Nagesh Kukunoor’s ‘Dhanak’ won best children’s film.
The Indira Gandhi award for best debut film went to Deep Choudhury for Bengali film ‘Alifa’.
The National Film Awards will be presented by India’s President Pranab Mukherjee at a special ceremony in New Delhi on May 3.