Actor Pavan Malhotra has earned his second National Film Award, receiving the Best Supporting Actor honour for his performance in the Haryanvi film Fouja.  In an exclusive interview with ANI, Malhotra shared his excitement and explained why this award is particularly special to him. "This is my second National Award, and to be honest, I feel very proud and it feels great. I'm also happy that I received it because that character is truly close to my heart," Malhotra said. Malhotra also spoke about working in regional film, especially for a Haryanvi market. 70th National Film Awards: Rishab Shetty Announces He Will Not Make ‘Festival-Type’ Films After Winning Best Actor for ‘Kantara’.

"When we were growing up in the 60s, it was a time of war, and to be honest, as a child, I always used to say that I wanted to join the military," he said. "So when this film came to me, someone asked why I took on this film since it's a Haryanvi film. I said it was because of the subject and the character I played in it," the actor shared. 70th National Film Awards Winners: ‘Aattam’, ‘Kantara’, ‘Brahmastra’, ‘Thiruchitrambalam’ and More – Here’s Where You Can Watch the Award-Winning Movies Online.

Pavan Malhotra's first National Award was for his performance in the 1998 film Fakir. With a career spanning nearly 40 years, he has appeared in over 55 films across different languages and has been part of more than 16 TV shows. Meanwhile, the 70th National Film Awards winners were announced on Friday in the national capital. The jury includes - Rahul Rawail, Chairperson of the Feature Film Jury; Nila Madhab Panda, Chairperson of the Non-Feature Film Jury; Mr Gangadhar Mudalair, Chairperson of the Best Writing on Cinema Jury.