The 63rd National Film Awards ceremony here on Tuesday got a dash of glitz and glamour of Bollywood with Amitabh Bachchan and Kangana Ranaut getting Best Actor and Best Actress honours.
President Pranab Mukherjee presented the awards at the ceremony at Vigyan Bhavan, which got talent from all the regional cinematic worlds across India under one roof.
A total of 21 awards were given by the President in the Non-Feature Film category while the number of awards in Feature Film category were 51. And three awards were given to Best Writing on Cinema.
While Amitabh, dressed up in a black suit, picked up the award for his act as a Bengali father in “Piku”, which also starred Deepika Padukone, Kangana looking radiant in off-shoulder gown got the honour for her superlative dual act in “Tanu Weds Manu Returns”. She has previously won National Awards twice for her roles in “Fashion” and “Queen”.
In the Feature Film category, the award for the Best Feature Film was given to filmmaker SS Rajamouli’s southern magnum opus “Baahubali: The Beginning”, produced by Shobu Yarlagadda and Arka Mediaworks Pvt ltd.
The talent of the Hindi film industry was lauded along with regional film industries like Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Assamese.
The President said the “Indian films truly reflected the Indian character of unity and diversity”.
Mukherjee complimented the award winners who included newcomers as well as legends of Indian cinema, and added that the awards this year reflected all aspects of cinema, including digitization and technology. It was the tragic romance saga of Maratha warrior Peshwa Bajirao I (played by Ranveer Singh) and Mastani (Deepika Padukone) in “Bajirao Mastani” that shone through the ceremony as it scooped up many honours. Sanjay leela Bhansali got the Best Director award for it as Remo D'Souza won the award in Best Choreography.
Shriram Iyengar, Saloni Dhatrak and Sujeet Sawant won for the movie's production design.
In the audiography section, Biswadeep Chatterjee’s sound designing and Justin Ghose's re-recording of the final mixed track for the Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone starrer, have been honoured.
“Masaan” directed by Neeraj Ghaywan and produced by Phantom Films received the Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director.
Superstar Salman Khan's on-screen journey to Pakistan from India via “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” became the Best Popular Film providing Wholesome Entertainment. The film's director Kabir Khan, looking sophisticated in black bandhgala, received the award.