Star King Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, and Vikrant Massey take home the highest awards
The 71st National Film Awards have been announced, honouring the best of Indian cinema from the past year. Certified films between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023, were eligible for the awards.
In a memorable moment, the Best Actor awards were shared by Shah Rukh Khan for his role in "Jawan" and Vikrant Massey for "12th Fail." Rani Mukerji won the Best Actress award for her performance in "Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway." This marked Shah Rukh Khan's first National Award for Best Actor after 33 years in the industry.
The Tamil film "Parking" won the Best Supporting Actor award for Muthupettai Somu Bhaskar, while Vijayaraghavan was named the Best Supporting Actor for his role in the Malayalam film "Pookkaalam." Urvashi won the Best Supporting Actress title for the Malayalam film "Ullozhukku." Shilpa Rao won the Best Female Playback Singer award for the song "Chaleya" from the film "Jawan," and PVN S Rohit won the Best Male Playback Singer award for the song "Premisthunna" from the Telugu film "Baby."
The satirical comedy-drama Kathal - A Jackfruit Mystery, starring Sanya Malhotra, was named the Best Hindi Film. Meghna Gulzar's biographical war drama Sam Bahadur, starring Vicky Kaushal, was picked for promoting national, social, and environmental values and also took home awards for best costume design and best make-up.
GV Prakash Kumar earned the Best Music Director (Songs) title for the Tamil film Vaathi. Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Animal was recognised for best sound design (Sachin Sudhakaran and Hariharan Muralidharan), best background score (Harshavardhan Rameshwar), and earned a special mention.
The Film and Television Institute of India produced the film "Flowering Man," which was named the Best Non-Feature Film. Rishiraj Agarwal's God Vulture and Human (English, Hindi and Telugu) won the Best Documentary award. Janki Bodiwala won the Best Supporting Actress award for the Gujarati film "Vash."
However, the ceremony was not without controversy. The Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan criticised the jury's decision to give two awards to The Kerala Story. He stated that the film was "built on lies to defame the state and spread communalism." Sudipto Sen won the prize for best direction for the film.
This year, the selection panel received 332 entries in the feature film category, 115 in non-feature films, 27 books, and 16 critics' submissions. The 71st National Film Awards serve as a testament to the diverse and vibrant world of Indian cinema.
- The satirical comedy-drama 'Kathal - A Jackfruit Mystery', a part of movies-and-tv entertainment in India, was named the Best Hindi Film.
- Actor Vikrant Massey, a well-known figure in Indian entertainment, won the Best Actor award for "12th Fail."
- The environment and social issues were highlighted in 'Sam Bahadur', a movie starring India's celebrated celebrity, Vicky Kaushal.
- The controversy surrounding 'The Kerala Story' extended to the 71st National Film Awards, as the Kerala chief minister criticized the film's recognition due to its allegedly inaccurate portrayal of events, causing a stir in the world of pop-culture.
