62ND National Film Awards – It Was ‘Queen’, ‘Haider’ All The Way

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It was an official do that was filled with glamour, costumes, ecstasy, claps, respect and appreciation from the film fraternity, audience and critics. It was a ceremony that re-established the best of Indian cinema as also the faith, joy and madness that keeps it going each year.

The award felicitations for honouring the best in Indian cinema – the 62nd National Film Awards were held in Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on Sunday, May 3. The awards had been announced by jury chairpersons, Bharathiraja and Kamal Swaroop, on March 24 this year. Well-known Bollywood actresses Vidya Balan and Priyanka Chopra attended the prestigious event wearing a saree.

Winner of Dadasaheb Phalke Award

Veteran and charismatic actor Shashi Kapoor, aged 77 belonging to the famous Kapoor khandaan known for his timeless dialogue in the film Deewar “Bhai, tum sign karoge ya nahin”, became the 46th recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

Unfortunately he could not attend the show due to his ill health. However, he received a standing ovation by the audience present. A special documentary on him was also screened. President Pranab Mukherjee hailed Shashi Kapoor by saying, “His contribution to cinema has been manifold and tremendous. He is a true living legend”.

Performances that stole the show
Now we move on to the popular awards for stellar performances in acting and supporting roles.

It was ‘Queen’ all the way as much as the movie based on Shakespearean trilogy Haider. The 28-year-old actress, Kangana Ranaut got her career’s second National Best Actress Award for a heart-moving portrayal of a young girl ditched by her fiance in the film “Queen”. She did make a bold fashion statement at the National Awards, dressed in a light mauve body-hugging gown. Interestingly, this gown was designed by New York-based Indian designer Bibhu Mohapatra (whose creation was worn by the US first lady Michelle Obama at her India tour in January this year). Kangana had won her first award for the Best Supporting Actress role in Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Fashion’ released in 2008. Speaking to NDTV a few hours before she got the award, she said she was thrilled when she heard she’d won. She further added “I am in a very fulfilling phase of my life where everything seemed picture perfect. I am very happy that there is pressure on me, I think I can deal with it”.

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Vikas Bahl, the film director collected the award for Best Hindi Film along with director Vikramaditya Motwane, who had co-produced the film with Anurag Kashyap. Truly, an impressive film!

For the Best Actor, Kannada star Vijay bagged the honour for his role of a transgender in ‘Nan Avanalla Avalu’. ‘Haider’ (the ‘Indian Hamlet’) that had Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Tabu and Kay Kay Menon in main and supporting roles won multiple awards in five categories – Best Dialogues, Best Music Direction (won by Vishal Bhardwaj), Best Male Playback Singer (won by Sukhvinder Singh for ‘Bismil Bismil’ track), Best Choreography (won by Sudesh Adhana for ‘Bismil’ again) and Best Costume Designing (won by Dolly Ahluwalia). Director Vishal Bhardwaj said prior to the ceremony, “I am feeling extremely happy and elevated. I don’t think any film has won five awards, it’s a matter of honour for me.” He also added “No one recognised Haider’s music in any other film awards and now we get a National Award for it.”

Priyanka Chopra starrer Omung Kumar’s film ‘Mary Kom’ won the award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and Srijit Mukherjee won Rajat Kamal for Best Original Screenplay for the Bengali film ‘Chotushkone’.

Bobby Simha won the Rajat Kamal for Best Supporting Actor for Jigarthanda (Tamil) and Baljinder Kaur won the Swarn Kamal for Best Supporting Actress for ‘Pagdi: The Honour’ (Haryanvi).

The award for Best Background Score went to Gopi Sundar for ‘Pagdi: The Honour’, Best Female Playback Singer went to Uttara Unnikrishnan for Tamil film ‘Saivam’.

Four feature films bagged Special Mention award: Amitabh Bachchan-starrer ‘Bhootnath Returns’, ‘Ain’ (Malayalam), ‘Nachom-ia Kumpasar’ (Konkani), ‘Killa’ (Marathi). The Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director went to Bengali film ‘Asha Jaoar Majhe’.

The Best Feature Film went to ‘Court’ (Marathi, Gujarati, Hindi, English) where Director Chaitanya Tamhane and actor-producer Vivek Gomber received the Swarn Kamal. Vivek Gomber had said “It’s an incredible honour. We have won 17 awards internationally, but this is the one that means the most”.

Film star Dhanush bagged the National Award for producing the film Kaaka Muttai that went on to win the Best Child Actor and Best Children’s Movie.