National Film Awards: South leads regional cinema’s capture of centrestage; PS:1 wins 4

CHENNAI: Regional cinema, especially those from South India, dominated the 70th National Film Awards which was announced on Friday, with Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan:1 carrying the flag for Tamil film industry by bagging four awards.

Despite the initial hype that said several Hindi films were in the fray to sweep the honours list, Bollywood had to settle for a lone award among the big ones, with Sooraj R Barjatya being adjudged as the Best Director for Uunchai.

"Aattam: The Play", directed by Anand Ekarshi, won Best Film, Best Screenplay and Best Editing. Rishabh Shetty bagged the Best Actor Award for the Kannada film Kantara, while Nithya Menen (Thiruchitrambalam) shared the Best Actress prize with Manasi Parekh (Kutch Express – Gujarati).

Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan won four awards, including Best Regional Film, Best Background Music (AR Rahman), Best Cinematographer (Ravi Varman), and Best Sound Design (Anand Krishnamurthi).

Talking to DT Next after winning the Best Sound Design award, Anand Krishnamurthi said, "Every film is unique and we give our 100 per cent. But when it came to the sound design for Ponniyin Selvan, we went the extra mile. I am happy and so is my family."

For Ravi Varman, the Best Cinematographer award he won was a case of being third time lucky. "When I worked in Santham (2000), they told me it will fetch me a National Award. I got similar feedback for Barfi. Now, I am happy that I have received one for Ponniyin Selvan-1. I am happy about this. However, this isn't my aim or destination. The entire team deserves an award."

Another award winner with Tamil roots was Anbariv duo, who won a second National Award for Best Stunt Choreography, this time for KGF: 2. "When awards were announced, we were shooting for Thug Life. We initially thought they were talking about the award we won for KGF:1. Then someone explained that it was for the second instalment. We are happy, as this would make the ecosystem better for stuntmen. This will motivate other stunt choreographers to rehearse better. We have been stressing on this point, only practice can make stunts better and safer," the duo told DT Next.

Other than the Best Actress award that Nithya Menen won, Thiruchitrambalam also won Best Dance Choreography (Jani and Sathish).

The other regional films that won awards include Kartikeya 2 (Telugu), Baaghi Di Dhee (Punjabi), Daman (Odia), Vaalvi (Marathi), and Sikaisal (best Tiwa film).