'Soorarai Pottru', the actors depicting the protagonists in the film won both best actor wards, is a dramatized portrayal of retired Army Captain GR Gopinath's life as the founder of the low-cost airline Air Deccan. Despite having a straight OTT release, the film was a big success, with fans flooding Twitter with rave reviews. Suriya and Guneet Monga both co-produced the film.
Tanahji was released in January 2020 and quickly grabbed the hearts of audiences in India and around the world. This is the third time Ajay Ajay Devgn has won this award.
Journalist Anant Vijay chaired the Best Writing on Cinema category.
Malayalam thriller Ayyappanum Koshiyum won two big awards - K R Sachidanandan, known professionally as Sachy, won Best Director posthumously and Biju Menon won Best Supporting Actor. Sachy died of a cardiac arrest in 2020 at the age of 47.
Toolsidas Junior was awarded Best Hindi Film with a special jury mention for child actor Varun Buddhadev.
Madhya Pradesh bagged the award for Most Film-Friendly State at the National Film Awards. The state has received the award earlier also. Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh bagged Most Film-Friendly (Special mention) Award. "Most film-friendly (special mention) award goes to Uttarakhand and UP. Most film-friendly film state goes to Madhya Pradesh," Neerja Sekhar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said.
68th National Film Awards : Judges
A 10-member jury led by director-producer Vipul Shah met Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Friday morning to submit its report on the 68th National Film Awards.This year, there are 50 categories with over 300 feature films and 150 non-feature films competing for the prizes. There are 30 different languages in the movies.
Apart from chairperson Shah, the jury members included cinematographer Dharam Gulati, National award-winning fame Bengali actor Sreelekha Mukherjee, cinematographer GS Bhaskar, A Karthikraaja, VN Aditya, Viji Thampi, Sanjeev Rattan, S Thangadurai and Nishigandha.
68th National Film Awards: Complete list of winner
Best Feature Film: Soorarai Pottru
Best Direction: Sachy, Ayyappanum Koshiyum
Best Actress: Aparna Balamurali, Soorarai Pottru
Best Actor: Suriya, Soorarai Pottru and Ajay Devgn for Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior
Best Supporting Actress: Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli, Sivaranjaniyum Innum Sila Pengalum
Best Supporting Actor: Biju Menon, AK Ayyappanum Koshiyum
Best Telugu Film: Colour Photo
Best Tamil Film: Sivaranjaniyum Innum Sila Pengallum
Best Malayalam Film: Thinkalazcha Nishchayam
Best Marathi Film: Gostha Eka Paithanichi
Best Kannada Film: Dollu
Best Hindi Film: Toolsidas Junior
Best Bengali Film: Avijatrik
Best Assamese Film: Bridge
Special Mention: Vaanku (Malayalam), June (Marathi), Avwanchhit (Marathi), Godakaath (Marathi),Toolsidas Junior (Hindi)
Best Tulu Film: Jeetige
Best Haryanvi Film: Dada Lakhmi
Best Diimasa Film: Semkhor
Best Action Direction: AK Ayyappanum Koshiyum
Best Choreography: Natyam (Telugu)
Best Lyrics: Saina
Best Music Direction: Ala Vaikunthapurramulo (Songs): Thaman S
Background Score: Soorarai Pottru
