70th National Film Awards: ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ and ‘Kantara’ score major wins for the South

Nithya Menon won the Best Actress Award for 'Thiruchitrambalam' and Rishab Shetty won the Best Actor Award for 'Kantara'.

South First Desk

Published Aug 16, 2024 | 3:57 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 16, 2024 | 4:22 PM

70th National Film Awards: 'Ponniyin Selvan' and 'Kantara' score major wins for the South. (X)

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) announced the 70th National Film Awards at a press conference in New Delhi on Friday, 16 August.

These awards celebrate the best films and cinematic achievements of 2022, certified by the censor board between 1 January and 31 December. The winners of the 70th National Film Awards will be honoured by President Droupadi Murmu in an October 2024 ceremony.

The jury also announced the Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipient.

The Best Actress in a Feature Film award was shared by Nithya Menon for her role in the Tamil comedy-drama Thiruchitrambalam (2022) and Manasi Parekh for her performance in the Gujarati drama Kutch Express (2023).

Anand Ekarshi’s Malayalam suspense drama Aattam (2023) won Best Film, Best Editing, and Best Screenplay at the 70th National Film Awards.

Sooraj R Barjatya was named Best Director for his Hindi adventure drama Uunchai (2022), featuring an ensemble cast led by Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, and Boman Irani.

Rishab Shetty won Best Actor in a Feature Film for his outstanding performance in the Kannada folk action thriller Kantara (2022), which he also directed. The film was also named Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.

The feature films were judged by a panel of Dilip Kumar Pandey, RV Udayakumar, Yatindra Mishra, Subhajit Mitra, Dr Anurag Singh, and Amol Bhave.

Here are the 70th National Film Awards winners, in no specific order.

Also Read: Aattam Malayalam movie review

Feature films categories

• Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Kantara by Rishab Shetty
• Best Actor: Rishab Shetty for Kantara
• Best Film: Aattam by Aanand Ekarshi
• Best Actress: Nithya Menon for Thiruchitrambhalam and Manasi Parekh for Kutch Express
• Best Direction: Sooraj R Barjatya for Uunchai
• Best Cinematography: Ravi Varman for Ponniyin Selvan 1
• Best Debut Film of a Director: Pramod Kumar for Fouja
• Best Action Choreography: Anbariv for KGF Chapter 2
• Best Child Artist: Sreepath for Malikappuram
• Best Choreography: Jani Master and Sathish Krishnan for “Megham Karukatha” in Thiruchitrambalam
• Best Sound Design: Anand Krishnamoorthy for Ponniyin Selvan 1
• Best Supporting Actress: Neena Gupta for Uunchai
• Best Music Direction for Songs: Pritam for Brahmastra: Part 1-Shiva
• Best Music Direction for Background Scores: AR Rahman for Ponniyin Selvan 2
• Best Film in Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comic:  Brahmastra: Part 1-Shiva  by Ayan Mukherji
• Best Male Playback Singer: Arijit Singh for “Kesariya” from Brahmastra: Part 1-Shiva
• Best Female Playback Singer: Bombay Jayashri for “Chaayum Veyil” from Saudi Vellakka
• Best Supporting Actor: Pavan Raj Malhotra for Fouja
• Best Make-Up Artist: Somnath Kundu for Aparajito
• Best Screenplay: Anand Ekarshi for Aatam
• Best Costume Design: Niki Joshi for Kutch Express
• Best Dialogue Writer: Arpita Mukherjee and Rahul V Chittela for Gulmohar
• Best Production Design: Ananda Addhya for Aparajito
• Best Lyrics: Naushad Sadar Khan for “Salaami” in Fouja
• Best Editing: Mahesh Bhuvanend for Aattam
• Special Jury Award: Manoj Bajpayee for Gulmohar and Sanjoy Chowdhury for Kadhikan
• Best Feature Film in Assamese: Emuthi Puthi by Kulanandini Mahanta
• Best Feature Film in Bengali: Kaberi Antardhan by Kaushik Gangula
• Best Feature Film in Hindi: Gulmohar by Rahul V. Chittella
• Best Feature Film in Kannada: KGF Chapter 2 by Prashanth Neel
• Best Feature Film in Malayalam: Saudi Vellakka by Tharun Moorthy
• Best Feature Film in Tamil: Ponniyin Selvan 1 by Mani Ratnam
• Best Feature Film in Telugu: Karthikeya 2 by Chandoo Mondeti
• Best Feature Film in Tiwa: Sikaisal by Dr Bobby Sarma Baruah
• Best Feature Film in Marathi: Vaalvi by Paresh Mokashi
• Best Feature Film in Punjabi: Baghi Di Dhee by Mukesh Gautam
• Best Feature Film in Odia: Daman by Vishal Mourya and Debi Prasad Lenka
• Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social, and Environmental Values: Kutch Express by Viral Shah

Non-feature films categories

• Best Arts and Culture Film: Ranga Vibhoga by Suneel Narasimhachar Puranik and Varsa by Sachin Balasaheb Suryawanshi
• Best Biographical/Historical Reconstruction/Compilation Film: Aanaki Ek Mohenjo Daro by Ashok Rane
• Best Documentary: Murmurs of the Jungle by Sahil Vaidya
• Best Non-Feature Film Direction: Miriam Chandy Menacherry for From the Shadow
• Best Non-Feature Film: Ayena by Siddhant Sarin
• Best Animated Film: A Coconut Tree by Joshy Benedict
• Best Editing: Suresh URS for Madhyantara
• Special Mention: Birubala by Aimee Baruah and Hargila-The Greater Adjutant Stork by Partha Sarathi Mahant
• Best Book On Cinema: Kishore Kumar: The Ultimate Biography by Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Parthiv Dhar
• Best Script: Koushik Sarkar for Mono No Aware
• Best Sound Design: Manas Choudhury for Yaan
• Best Short Film: Xunyota by Nabapan Deka
• Best Debut Film of a Director: Basti Dinesh Shenoy for Madhyantara
• Best Narration/Voice-Over: Sumant Shinde for Murmurs of the Jungle
• Best Cinematography: Siddharth Diwan for Mono No Aware
• Best Non-Feature Film Music Direction: Vishal Bharadwaj for Fursat
• Best Non-Feature Film Promoting Social and Environmental Values: On The Brink Season 2: Gharial by Akansha Sood Singh
• Best Film Critic: Deepak Dua (Hindi)

(Edited by Y Krishna Jyothi)

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