The National Awards ceremony finally took place, extremely belatedly, in New Delhi's Vigyan Bhawan today, with Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu handing the awards out to the winners. This year's Dadasaheb Phalke awardee Amitabh Bachchan, 77, could not attend, having shared the evening before that he was "down with fever." Vice-President Naidu paid him tribute in his speech, calling Mr Bachchan "an institution by himself" - not many would disagree. Prakash Javadekar, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, noted the popularity of Indian films abroad, particularly China. He also made special mentions of some of the awardees, including Best Actors Ayushmann Khurrana and Vicky Kaushal, Best Actress Keerthy Suresh, and Akshay Kumar, whose movie PadMan won the award for Best Film on Social Issues.
Several awardees received rousing cheers from the gathering - Best Supporting Actress Surekha Sikri, who received her prize in a wheelchair, got a standing ovation. Ms Sikri was awarded for her performance in Badhaai Ho. The winners of the Best Music Direction prizes - Sanjay Leela Bhansali for "Padmaavat" and Shashwat Sachdev for Uri: The Surgical Strike - also received a big hand. The four winners of the Best Child Artiste award - P V Rohith for Ondalla Eradalla, Shrinivas Pokale for Naal, Sameep Ranaut for Harjeeta and Talha Arshad Reshi for Hamid - brought the house down.
Here are some pictures from the National Awards ceremony:
Aayushmann Khurrana received the Best Actor award for AndhaDhun. (Image courtesy: Doordarshan)
Vicky Kaushal received an award for Uri. (Image courtesy: Doordarshan)
Best Actress Keerthy Suresh collecting the award. (Image courtesy: Doordarshan)
Akshay Kumar's PadMan won the award for Best Film on Social Issues. (Image courtesy: Doordarshan)
Best Supporting Actress Surekha Sikri received her prize in a wheelchair. (Image courtesy: Doordarshan)
Best Director Aditya Dhar won an award for Uri. (Image courtesy: Doordarshan)
Sanjay Leela Bhansali received the Best Music Direction award for "Padmaavat." (Image courtesy: Doordarshan)
Shashwat Sachdev also received the Best Music Direction award for Uri: The Surgical Strike . (Image courtesy: Doordarshan)
P V Rohith, Shrinivas Pokale, Sameep Ranaut and Talha Arshad Reshi received Best Child Artiste award. (Image courtesy: Doordarshan)
Shriram Raghavan collected the Best Hindi Film Award for AndhaDhun. (Image courtesy: Doordarshan)
Rima Das received an award for Bulbul Can Sing. (Image courtesy: Doordarshan)
Mahanati director Nag Ashwin collecting the award. (Image courtesy: Doordarshan)
Swanand Kirkire received the award for Best Supporting Actor. (Image courtesy: Doordarshan)
Srijit Mukherji received an award for Ek Je Chhilo Raja.(Image courtesy: Doordarshan)
The list of winners of this year's National Film Awards:
Best Feature Film - Hellaro (Gujarati)
Best Director - Aditya Dhar for Uri (Hindi)
Indira Gandhi Award For Best Debut Film Of A Director - Sudhakar Reddy Yakanti for Naal (Marathi)
Best Actress - Keerthy Suresh for Mahanati (Telugu)
Best Actor - Ayushmann Khurrana (AndhaDhun) and Vicky Kaushal (Uri)
Supporting Actress - Surekha Sikri for Badhaai Ho (Hindi)
Supporting Actor - Swanand Kirkire for Chumbak (Marathi)
Best Child Artiste - P V Rohith (Ondalla Eradalla), Sameep Singh (Harjeeta), Talha Arshad Resi (Hamid), Shrinivas Pokale (Naal)
Best Children's Film - Sarkari Area Prathamika Shaale Kasaragod
Nargis Dutt Award For Best Film On National Integration - Ondalla Eradalla (Kannada)
Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment - Badhaai Ho (Hindi)
Best Film On Environmental Conservation - Paani (Marathi)
Best Film on Social Issues - PadMan (Hindi)
Special Mention - Sruthi Hariharan (Nathicharami), Chandrachud Rai, Joju George (Joseph), Savithri Sreedharan (Sudani From Nigeria)
Best Rajasthani Film - Turtle
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
