66th National awards: Andhadhun, Mahanati, Padmaavat, Uri win multiple awards

After a long delay, the announcement of the National Film awards was finally made. This year, the delay for the annual awards occurred owing to the clash with the Lok Sabha election of 2019. The announcement was made on Friday, 9 August, by filmmaker Rahul Rawail, head of the jury for feature films in 31 categories.

Abhishek Shah’s Gujarati film Hellaro was adjudged the Best Film of 2018. In the acting categories, Hindi film stars Ayushmann Khurrana and Vicky Kaushal were both named Best Actors for their films Andhadhun (2018) and Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019), respectively. Actress Keerthy Suresh won Best Actress for her portrayal of the late South legend Savitri in the Telugu film, Mahanati (2018).

Swanand Kirkire won the award for Best Supporting Actor for his moving performance in the Marathi film Chumbak (2018) while veteran actress Surekha Sikri picked up her third National award for her scene-stealing turn as the grandmother in Badhaai Ho (2018). The family comedy also picked up the award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.

The films Padmaavat, Uri: The Surgical Strike and Mahanati also picked up multiple awards in the technical categories. Padmaavat filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali won the Best Music Director award while Uri’s first-time filmmaker Aditya Dhar won the Best Director award.

Uttarakhand was named the most film-friendly state while the Best Film Critic honours were shared by Blase Johnny (Malayalam) and Ananth Vijay (Hindi). The Malayalam book Mouna Prathanapole by S Jayachandran Nair was named Best Book on Cinema, while In A Cult of Their Own: Bollywood Beyond Box Office by Amborish Roychoudhury received Special Mention.

Here’s the full list below:

Feature Film Category

Best Rajasthani Film: Turtle

Best Panchanga Film: In The Land Of Poisonous Women

Best Sherdukpan Film: Mishing

Best Garo Film: Ma.Ama

Best Marathi Film: Bhonga 

Best Tamil Film: Baaram

Best Hindi Film: Andhadhun

Best Urdu Film: Hamid

Best Bengali Film: Ek Je Chhilo Raja

Best Malayalam Film: Sudani From Nigeria

Best Telugu Film: Mahanati

Best Kannada Film: Nathicharami

Best Konkani Film: Amori

Best Assamese Film: Bulbul Can Sing

Best Punjabi Film: Harjeeta

Best Gujarati Film: Reva

Actors who get special mention for their performance: Sruthi Hariharan for Nathicharami (Kannada), Chandrachoor Rai for Kadakh (Hindi), Joju George for Joseph (Malayalam), Savitri for Sudani From Nigeria (Malayalam)

Best choreography: Kruti Mahesh Madya and Jyoti Tomar for 'Ghoomar' from Padmaavat

Best special effects: Srushti Creative Studio for Awe, Unifi Media for KGF

Best music direction: Sanjay Leela Bhasali for Padmaavat

Best background music award: Shashwat Sachdev for Uri: The Surgical Strike

Best makeup artist: Ranjith for Awe (Telugu)

Best costume designer: Indrakshi Pattanaik, Gaurang Shah & Archana Rao for Mahanati

Best action: Vikram More and Anbu Ariv for KGF

Best lyrics: Manjutha for Nathicharami

Best production design: Bangalan for Kammara Sambhavam (Malayalam)

Best editing: Nagendra K Ujjani for Nathicharami (Kannada)

Best location sound: Gaurav Verma for Tendlya (Marathi)

Best sound design: Bishwadeep Dipak Chatterjee for Uri: Ther Surgical Strike

Best mixed track: Raja Krishnan MR for Rangasthalam (Telugu)

Best original screenplay: Rahul Ravindran for Chi Arjun La Sow (Telugu)

Best adapted screenplay: Sriram Raghavan, Arijit Biswas, Yogesh Chandekar, Hemant Rao & Pooja Ladha Surti for Andhadhun

Best dialogue: Churni Ganguly for Tarikh (Bengali)

Best cinematography: MJ Radhakrishnan for Olu (Malayalam)

Best female playback singer: Bindu Mani for 'Mayavi Manave' from Nathicharami

Best male playback singer: Arijit Singh for 'Binte Dil' from Padmaavat

Best film on social issues: Pad Man

Best supporting actress: Surekha Sikri for Badhaai Ho

Best supporting actor: Swanand Kirkire for Chumbak

Best actor: Ayushmann Khurrana for Andhadhun, and Vicky Kaushal for Uri

Best actress: Keerthy Suresh for Mahanati

Best direction: Aditya Dhar for Uri

Best feature film: Hellaro (Gujarati)

Best child artiste: PV Rohith (Kannada) for Ondalla Eradalla, Sameep Singh (Punjabi) for Harjeeta, Talha Arshad Reshi (Urdu) for Hamid and Shrinivas Pokale (Marathi) for Naal

Best children's film: Sarkari Area Prathamika Shaale Kasaragodu (Kannada)

Best film on environment conservation: Paani

Nargis Dutt award for National Integration: Ondanya Eradalu

Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Badhaai Ho

Jury awards: Director Indradip Dasgupta for Kedara (Bengali), Actresses Shraddha Dangar, Shachi Joshi, Denisha Ghumra, Neelam Paanchal, Tarjani Bhadla, Brinda Nayak, Tejal Panchasara, Kaushambi Bhatt, Ekta Bachwani, Kamini Panchal, Jagruti Thakore, Riddhi Yadav and Prapti Mehta for Hellaro (Gujarati)

Indira Gandhi award for Best Debut Film of a Director: Sudhakar Reddy Yakanthi for Naal

Non Feature Film Category

Best Film on Family Values: Chalo Jeetey Hai

Best Short Fiction Film: Kharvas

Social Justice Film: Why Me, Ekant

Best Investigation Film: Amoli

Best Sports Film: Swimming Through The Darkness

Best Educational Film: Sarala Virala

Best Film on Social Issue: Taala Te Kunjee

Best Environmental Film: The World's Most Famous Tiger

Best Promotional Film: Rediscovering Jahannum

Best Film on Science and Technology: GD Naidu: The Edison Of India

Best Arts and Cultural Film: Bunkar: The Last Of The Varanasi Weavers

Best Debut Non- Feature Film of a Director: Feluda: 50 Years Of Ray's Detective

Best Cinematography: Ajay Bedi and Vijay Bedi for The Secret Life Of Frogs

Best Direction: Gautam Vaze for Aai Shappath

Best Non-Feature Film: Sunrise, The Secret Life Of Frogs