63rd National Awards: 'Ritika Singh winning is like director Sudha Kongara winning'

Mixed martial artist-turned-actress Ritika Singh was approached to play a boxer in Irudhi Suttru and it was an offer she couldn’t refuse. Today, she has won Special Mention for her performance in director Sudha Konagara’s Irudhi Suttru at the 63rd National Awards. 

S Sashikanth (Y Not studios) and C V Kumar produced the Tamil version of the film which was shot as a bilingual. In Hindi, it was released as Saala Khadoos by actor R Madhavan, who played a boxing coach in the film, and Rajkumar Hirani. Speaking to dna, producer Sashikanth says, “I am very happy that Ritika won the Special Mention. To me Ritika winning is like director Sudha Kongara winning. She represents the idea of Irudhi Suttru and this is her ‘irudhi suttru’ too. We are very proud. We can look back and she won because of Irudhi Suttru.”

Ritika Singh had been praised for her performance by the audience and critics. She transformed herself into a young fisherwoman who lived in the slum for her role in this Tamil film. 

Sashikanth adds that he was hoping that the National Awards this time might have a Best Sports Film or any such special category so that Irudhi Suttru could shine even more. “I was confident about the technical aspects of Irudhi Suttru like direction, cinematography and music direction,” he says. 

Ritika could not be reached for comment as she is travelling.