Regarded as one of the most prestigious awards of our times,  Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Awards 2018 have been conferred on those who stood out with their performances in the domain of cinema and arts. But the moment the awards were handed out, there was tremendous curiosity over one particular category--that of the best actor! It was almost certain that Ranveer Singh would bag the trophy for his portrayal of Khilji in Padmavaat.

Singh has floored critics as well as the audiences with his unmatched performance as the mega ambitious Mughal King in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Magnum Opus Padmavaat. But the man bagged the award in the people's choice category instead. It was Shahid kapoor's character from the same film that won him the coveted trophy! Now, this selection has raised some eyebrows for sure! But in our frank opinion we believe the choice is totally justified!

Ranveer and Sasha were constantly pitted against each other by the fans and the media alike from the word go. This had to happen and there was no running away from this fact. Singh has undoubtedly delivered his career best performance as the menacing and barbaric Khiljee. The role certainly required him to go into the deep dark recess of his own being to draw out that sinister portrayal. Shahid on the other hand, was very subtle, but equally nuanced with his craft. His performance was amazingly controlled and it must be stated that he allowed Khilji to blossom to his full potential by taking the proverbial backseat. And for that reason alone he deserves Kudos!

Had Sasha's character been equally strong and wild in the movie, it would have clashed with Khiljee's rambunctious  energy, and that, in turn, would have been detrimental to the film.  Shahid therefore totally deserves the accolades that have come his way with this recognition. While Ranveer has won our hearts with his incredible portrayal of Khilji, Sasha won our vote with his understated  performance, for sure!

Here's the list of the winners:

Best actor (male): Shahid Kapoor

Best actor people's choice award: Ranveer Singh

Entertainer of the year: Kartik Aryan

Best actress (critics): Aditi Rao Hydari

Lifetime achievement award: Simi Garewal

Pride of Indian cinema: Sanjay Dutt

Path breaking producer of the year: Anushka Sharma and Karnesh Sharma

Best director: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari

Outstanding performance male: Raj Kumar Rao, Rana Daggubati

Outstanding performance female: Tamannahh Bhatia, Kriti Sanon

Promising face of the year: Aahana Kumra

Best actor (male) Marathi: Vaibhav Tatwawaadi

Best actor (female) Marathi: Pooja Sawant

Best fashion designer of the year: Sanjukta Dutta

Socially conscious performance of the year: Rani Mukherjee

Best comic role: Tusshar Kapoor

Entertaining performance in reality show Bigg Boss: Hina Khan

Best actress drama award: Jennifer Winget

Best actor (male) Television: Karan Patel

Best reality show judge: Shilpa Shetty

Best talk show host: Karan Johar

Best lyricist: Manoj Muntashir

Best performance in a short film: Divya Khosla Kumar

Iconic contribution towards music: Hans Raj Hans

Comic performer of the year: Sumona Chakraborty

Versatile singer: Rani Hazarika

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 22, 2018 01:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).