The 67th National Film Awards evokes some painful memories and a meme fest

Gone but not forgotten - remembering the fallen hero to a meme fest, as soon as the 67th National Film Awards were announced on Monday, fans of Sushant Singh Rajput, whose film Chhichhore bagged Best Hindi Film, and Kangana Ranaut, who won her fourth National Award, went into an overdrive.

The 67th National Film Awards honouring the best in 2019 films, were supposed to take place last year, but were postponed. The same were finally announced on March 22 in a press conference at the National Media Centre in Delhi. There were around 461 films in the feature category and 220 films in the shorts category. The Best Feature Film went to Priyadarshan’s Malayalam period epic Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea. Interestingly, this Mohanlal-starrer has not found its way to theatres yet and is slated for release later in 2021.

The winners’ table

In Hindi films, Kangana Ranaut won Best Actress for her performances in Manikarnika and Panga. The award for Best Actor went to Manoj Bajpayee for Bhonsle and Dhanush for Asuran. Vivek Agnihotri’s The Tashkent Files got Best Dialogue and his wife Pallavi Joshi got the Best Supporting Actress award for the same film. Tuesday seemed to be Kangana’s day all in all – her birthday coincided with Thalaivi trailer, and her fans hailed their Queen. “Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you Kangana’s fifth National Film Award performance. #ThalaiviTrailer,” posted one of her fan group. The following meme fest had pictures of Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone, Swara Bhaskar, Taapsee Pannu, Hrithik Roshan shown crying over her win. While not all the reactions were laudatory. “Congratulations on another national award. Bas ab thoda politics bhool kar kaam peh concentrate karo #KanganaRanaut,” tweeted a user ‘bhatiasumeet68’. “Wah! Significant wins! Politically correct! Congratulations, all!,” tweeted columnist Shobhaa De.

Late, but not forgotten

Best Hindi Film went to Chhichhore, starring the late Sushant Singh Rajput. SSR’s co-actor from Chhichhore, Tahir Raj Bhasin says, “I feel incredibly grateful to have played the part of Derek and been a part of Chhichhore. The film was about never allowing society to decide if you are a winner or a loser but fighting the very notions of these labels and finding your own happiness. As we celebrate our big win, today will also be a day of remembrance and gratitude for Sushant without whom this story would never have been told.”

“@itsSSR National Award for #Chhichhore It’s you, Congratulations to one and only Sushant Singh Rajput” tweeted a user Ruhi76313890. “Chhichhore’s National Award dedicated to Sushant Singh Rajput: Hope it gives happiness to his family, fans,” posted user Desi Fashion- Chic.

AK lauds Punjab ki Mitti

Meanwhile, singer B Praak got the National Award for the Best Male Playback Singer for the patriotic song Teri Mitti from his war-drama Kesari. Reacting to this, Akshay Kumar took to Twitter and wrote, “#TeriMitti still gives me goosebumps every time I hear it and one song I’m most proud of being part of…Couldn’t be happier! @BPraak #NationalFilmAwards2019.” Written by Manoj Muntashir, the song is crooned by B Praak and the music has been composed by Arko.

Four years, 500 hours and two National Awards

Documentary Wild Karnataka took home two awards Best Exploration Film and Best Narration for Sir David Attenborough, who was the film’s English narrator. Talking about the same, Prakash Raj said, “Being a part of the vision that brought to life the Wild Karnataka documentary was truly a beautiful experience. A culmination of four years and almost 500 hours of footage, it was an absolute pleasure to be the voice, narrating this extraordinary story in my language, Tamil and Telugu.”

Starting early: Naga Vishal

Naga Vishal bagged the National Award for the Best Child Artist for KD Engira Karuppu Durai. The young actor says, “This is a totally unexpected and overwhelming honour. The filming experience was so easy, and we were all one family on set. Madhumita Maam – my director – was like my elder sister. To get an honour like this at a national level is really something I wasn’t prepared for.”— Mona

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