Legendary Actor Rajnikanth conferred upon prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award; Manoj Bajpayee, Kangana Ranaut best actors at National Film Awards ceremony.

The 67th National Film Awards were presented by Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu at a special function in New Delhi. Veteran actor Super Star Rajinikanth was honoured with the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award for his outstanding contribution to the world of Indian cinema.

AIR correspondent reports, Rajinikanth is widely regarded as one of the most popular actors in the history of Indian cinema.Born, Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, Rajinikanth began his career as a villain actor in Tamil cinema in the year 1975 and went on to become the unrivalled super star of Tamil Cinema.He has won many awards, including four Tamil Nadu State Film Best Actor Awards and a Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award.

The Government of India has honored him with the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan. He is the second-highest grossing actor in Tamil cinema history, behind M. G. Ramachandran. His popularity has been attributed to his uniquely styled punch dialogues and stunts.

Rajinikanth is the only Indian actor to be featured in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabus, in a lesson titled From Bus Conductor to Superstar.

Malayalam movie ‘Marakkar Arabikkadilinte Simham’ directed by Priyadarshan was awarded the Best Feature Film Award. Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan was given best Direction Award for Hindi film ‘Bahattar Hoorain’.

Actor Manoj Bajpayee was awarded best Actor award for Hindi movie ‘Bhonsle’ and Dhanush got the award for Tamil Movie ‘Asuran’. Kangana Ranaut received Best Actress award for her movies ‘Manikarnika -The Queen of Jhansi’ and ‘Panga’. Vijaya Sethupati was awarded the best supporting actor award for Tamil film ‘Super Deluxe’ and Pallavi Joshi got best supporting actress award for Hindi film’ The Tashkent Files’.

B. Praak got the Best Male playback Singer award for song “Teri Mitti” in Hindi Film ‘Kesari’. Savani Ravindra was awarded Best Female playback Singer award for song “Rann Petala” in Marathi Movie ‘Bardo’. D. Imman received best Music Direction Award for his songs in Tamil Fim ‘Vishwasam’. Prabuddha Banerjee got the award for background music in Bengali movie ‘Jeyesthaputro’.

Prabha Varma got the Best Lyrics award for Malayalam movie ‘Kolaambi’. Raju Sundaram received the Best Choreography award for Telugu Movie ‘Maharshi’. Sikkim got the award for the most film friendly state. Best Non Feature Film award was given to Hemant Gaba’s ‘An Engineered Dream’.

The award for the best film critic was given to Sohini Chattopadhyay.

In Non-Feature Film category, Best Animation Film was awarded to ‘Radha’. Best Art and Culture film award was given to Odia non-feature film ‘Shrikhetra ru Sahijata’. The Award for the best Narration for Non-Feature Films was given to ‘Wild Karnataka’ (English) by Sir David Attenborough.

The award for the Best Music Direction in Non-Feature Films was given to ‘Kranti Darshi Guruji- Ahead Of Times’ (Hindi) by Bishakhjyoti. The award for best book on cinema was given to ‘A Gandhian Affair: India’s Curious Portrayal of Love in Cinema’ written by Sanjay Suri.

Speaking on the occasion, Vice President Naidu said he is happy to see films from different regions winning the awards. He said the films deal with pertinent issues of our times, including climate change. He said, cinema serves as a powerful medium for promotion of sports and this medium should be used for betterment of society.

The Vice President said, film should be a vehicle with a higher purpose carrying ethical and moral message. He stated that film with a message has a lasting appeal. He said, government has played a key role in strengthening the documentary movement in the country.

Addressing the event, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur congratulated Rajinikanth for receiving the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award. He said these five decades have turned Rajinikanth from an individual to an institution. He said, cinema not only entertains but also plays the key role of delivering important messages to the society. Mr Thakur said, choosing the right content to portray to the society is a huge responsibility.