Ajay Devgn and Suriya shared the best actor award at the 68th National Film Awards announced here. The best actor in female category was won by Aparna Balamurali for Soorarai Pottru. Ajay Devgn won the award for his role in 'Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior' and Suriya won it for Soorarai Pottru. 68th National Film Awards: Dhanush Calls It ‘Big Day’ for Tamil Cinema After Suriya’s Soorarai Pottru Wins Five Trophies at the Prestigious Event.

This is the third time Ajay Ajay Devgn has won this award. Tanahji was released in January 2020 and quickly grabbed the hearts of audiences in India and around the world. Soorarai Pottru is a dramatized portrayal of retired Army Captain GR Gopinath's life as the founder of the low-cost airline Air Deccan. Despite having a straight OTT release, the film was a big success, with fans flooding Twitter with rave reviews. Suriya and Guneet Monga both co-produced the film. 68th National Film Awards: Akshay Kumar Congratulates Suriya, Aparna Balamurali and Soorarai Pottru Team for Winning Big.

Madhya Pradesh bagged the award for Most Film-Friendly State at the National Film Awards. Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh bagged Most Film-Friendly (Special mention) Award."Most film-friendly (special mention) award goes to Uttarakhand and UP. Most film-friendly film state goes to Madhya Pradesh," Neerja Sekhar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said.

Madhya Pradesh has received the award earlier also. A 10-member jury led by director-producer Vipul Shah met Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Friday morning to submit its report on the 68th National Film Awards.This year, there are 50 categories with over 300 feature films and 150 non-feature films competing for the prizes. There are 30 different languages in the movies.

Apart from chairperson Shah, the jury members included cinematographer Dharam Gulati, National award-winning fame Bengali actor Sreelekha Mukherjee, cinematographer GS Bhaskar, A Karthikraaja, VN Aditya, Viji Thampi, Sanjeev Rattan, S Thangadurai and Nishigandha. Producer-director Vipul Shah told ANI, "It has been heartening to see the kind of response that was received and the number of films that we got to see. And these were very difficult COVID times during which these films were either made or being made."

Chitrartha Singh who headed the non-feature jury stated, "We have been able to review close to 140 non-feature films including documentaries and it is amazing to see the kind of content that has come forth, especially from areas like the north-east." Journalist Anant Vijay chaired the Best Writing on Cinema category. (ANI)

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