National Film Awards 2022 highlights: Soorarai Pottru and Tanhaji The Unsung Warrior win big

Ajay Devgn says he is ‘elated’ on winning his third national award for best actor. In a statement, the actor said, “I’m elated to win the Best Actor Award for Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior at the 68th National Awards along with Suriya, who won for Soorarai Pottru. I thank everyone, most of all my creative team, the audience and my fans. I also express my gratitude to my parents & the Almighty for their blessings. Congratulations to all the other winners.”

Composer GV Prakash Kumar, who won the National Film Award for best music direction, tweeted after the announcement, thanking the team of his film Soorarai Pottru, and his father.

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award, presented for "outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema", will be announced at a later meet, the jury informed.

Soorarai Pottru, a semi-biographical drama, won in three of the four major award categories at the 68th National Film Awards--best feature film, best actor, and best actress.

Tamil film Soorarai Pottru, starring Suriya, is adjudged the best feature film at the National Film Awards 2022.

Ajay Devgn-starrer Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior wins the award for best popular film providing wholesome entertainment at the 68th National Film Awards.

Sachidanandan KR wins best director for the Malayalam film AK Ayyappanum Koshiyum posthumously. This is the second major award for the film.

Ajay Devgn for Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior and Suriya for Soorarai Pottru share the award for best actor.

Soorarai Pottru's Aparna Balamurali wins the best actress award at the National Film Awards 2022.

The 68th National Film Award for best supporting actor has been given to Biju Menon for the Malayalam film AK Ayyappanum Koshiyum.

Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli wins best supporting actress award for her performance in the Tamil film Sivaranjiniyum Innum Sila Pengalum.

Child actor Varun Buddhadeb gets a special jury mention for the Sanjay Dutt and Rajiv Kapoor-starrer Toolsidas Junior.

The award for most film-friendly state has been given to Madhya Pradesh. Special mention by jury to Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

Over 300 feature films and 150 non-feature films are competing for the awards in 50 categories this year. The films are in 30 different languages.

Filmmaker Vipul Shah leads the 10-member jury for the 68th National Film Awards. As per ANI, other members include cinematographers Dharam Gulati and GS Bhaskar, actor Sreelekha Mukherjee, as well as A Karthikraaja, VN Aditya, Viji Thampi, Sanjeev Rattan, S Thangadurai, and Nishigandha.

The physical ceremony for the National Film Awards will be held in Delhi after two years. Last year, the awards were announced but not presented at a ceremony due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 68th National Film Awards can be watched live on Press Information Bureau's official YouTube channel and Facebook page.