Bollywood, regional films share credits at National Awards

A healthy mix of Bollywood, southern, Marathi and Bengali cinema took away the accolades at the 60th National Film Awards, announced in New Delhi on Monday. Movies with offbeat themes and unconventional treatment shone the brightest.

Tigmanshu Dhulia's Paan Singh Tomar, about an athlete-turned-dacoit, won the best film. The much-versatile Irrfan was named the best actor for the same film, and he shared the title with actor Vikram Gokhale, who was honoured for the performance in Marathi film "Anumati".

Actress Usha Jadhav won the best actress title for playing a rustic housewife in Marathi film Dhag, which won the best director's gong for Shivaji Lotan Patil. The award for the best female playback singer was conferred on Samhita for the song Palakein naa moon don from the Marathi film Aarti Anklekartikekar.

In the feature film category, a total of 38 films from 14 languages have been selected for the awards.

One could say Bollywood was shining, courtesy unique films like Kahaani, Vicky Donor, Paan Singh Tomar, OMG: Oh My God! and Dekh Indian Circus, which won multiple awards. However, it was surprising how Barfi!, which was India's entry for the Oscars this year, didn't find a single mention.

Sujoy Ghosh won the best screenplay writer (original) for Kahaani, which won Namrata Rao a best edition National Award, and even a special mention for actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui. The actor also made a mark for himself with other films like Gangs Of Wasseypur, Talaash and Dekh Indian Circus.

Vicky Donor, a film on a youngster who plays a sperm donor, won three gongs - best film providing wholesome entertainment (jointly with Malayalam film 'Vicky Donor'), best supporting actor for Anu Kapoor and best supporting actress with Dolly Ahluwalia.Actress Parineeti Chopra won a special mention for Ishaqzaade.

The music category saw ace composer Shankar Mahadevan get the best male playback singer award for the song Bolo na from the film Chittagong, for which Prasoon Joshi got the best lyrics award.

The best adapted screenplay went to Bhavesh Mandalia and Shri Umesh Shukla for OMG: Oh My God!, a big screen version of a Gujarati play.

Several Malayalam films also tasted success in the 31 categories across which awards were announced.

Four awards out of the 13 picked by Malayalam movies were shared, including the Indira Gandhi Award for the best debut film of a director. 101 Chodiyangal was named the winner jointly with Hindi film Chittagong.

Actress Kalpana won a shared best supporting actress trophy for Thanichalla Njan. The best child artist award too has been shared by Minon for 101 Chodiyangal and Virendra Pratap for Dekh Indian Circus.

Anjali Menon won the best dialogue award for Malayalam film Ustad Hotel, which also won a posthumous special mention for ace actor Thilakan, who passed away in September last year.

A special jury award has been conferred on Rituparno Ghosh for Bengali film Chitrangadha. The award for the best choreography has been conferred on Birju Maharaj for the Tamil film Vishwaroopam, while Tamil blockbuster Eega won for its awe-inspiring visual effects.