70th National Film Awards announcement highlights: Rishabh Shetty gets good wishes from Jr NTR, Yash and fans

With today's award, AR Rahman has now won seven National Awards, the most any music director has won in India. Isaignani Ilaiyraaja comes a close second having won five National Awards for music, the last being in 2015 for the Tamil film Tharai Thappattai. Hindi music director Vishal Baradwaj stands third in this list with four and Jaidev with three. Read full report here.

70th National Film Awards announcement live updates: Prashanth Neel said,
“I am truly honored by this National Award for 'KGF Chapter 2.' My deepest gratitude goes to Yash for his extraordinary performance and to the entire team and the crew for their relentless dedication. A heartfelt thank you to our audience for their unwavering support and to the media for their vital role in this journey. Congratulations to Rishab Shetty and Hombale Films for their well-deserved recognition with 'Kantara.' This achievement is a shining moment for Kannada cinema and I’m grateful to everyone who made this possible.”

Veteran actor Sharmila Tagore is overjoyed with the Best Hindi Film win for Gulmohar. “I am over the moon. I was just sitting down for lunch when I got a call to give me the news. I was so happy after the phone call. Since then I have not stopped smiling. I rang up Rahul (director), Manoj and everyone in the team to share the happiness,” Sharmila Tagore tells us with a pride in her voice, adding, “It is so nice that we all kept in touch and now we all are ringing each other to share the excitement”.

Actor Manasi Parekh, who has lifted the National Film Award for Best Actress for the film Kutch Express, tells us, “I work very hard, I love what I do. What makes this win even sweeter is that my husband and I have produced Kutch Express as well! I want to do the best work, produce the best of things.”

Ayan Mukerji, the director of Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva, is very happy and grateful with the film's achievement of winning three National Film Awards.

He shares his excitement, saying, “It’s a special day for us.

I am deeply grateful for the recognition Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva has received at the National Awards.

The music of the film holds a special place in all our hearts. Pritam Da's compositions, coupled Amitabh’s lyrics and with Arijit's voice, is something I feel so proud and grateful for!

From the music to the visual effects, we poured a lot of love into making this film, and I thank the entire team for this fantastic collaborative effort which continues to give us so much love."

70th National Film Awards announcement live updates: “Very well deserved and huge congratulations to all the National award winners,” wrote Tamil star Dhanush.

70th National Film Awards announcement live updates: Jr NTR tweeted, "Congratulations to @shetty_rishab on your well-deserved Best Actor win for Kantara! Your mind-blowing performance is still giving me goosebumps… Also, congrats to the entire team of Kantara for winning the Best Popular Film award." Rishabh responded, “Thank you so much sir.”

70th National Film Awards announcement live updates: Fans of actor Sai Pallavi are upset that she did not get the Best Actress award for Gargi. “Sai Pallavi as #GARGI deserves a National Award more than anyone else...the script, the Screenplay, the PERFORMANCE everything about the movie is on top class. Disappointed with the #NationalFilmAwards announcement,” read a comment on Twitter.

"Thank you! I am on a shoot. But I am very happy to be chosen for this award and that too, for 'Gulmohar', which holds a special place in my heart. Also, I am ecstatic to know that 'Gulmohar' got three awards. I am feeling blessed," Manoj Bajpayee told India Today after his ‘special mention’ for Gulmohar.

KGF star Yash took toTwitter to congratulate the team: “Heartiest congratulations to all the winners of the National Awards. A special shoutout to our very own @shetty_rishab, @VKiragandur, Prashanth Neel and the entire @hombalefilms team for the well-deserved recognition for Kantara and KGF 2. Here's to many more heights. This is indeed Kannada cinema's shining moment on the national stage!”

70th National Film Awards announcement live updates: Hombale Films made a significant mark at the awards this time. Rishab Shetty won the National Award in the Best Actor in a Leading Role category for Kantara. Additionally, the Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment went to Kantara, while the Best Kannada Film and Best Action Direction Awards were won by KGF Chapter 2.

70th National Film Awards announcement live updates: Nikhil Siddhartha on Karthikeya 2 winning National Award for Best Telugu Film: I just heard the good news that Karthikeya 2 won the National Award. I must credit the film’s team, including Chandoo Mondeti, Kaala Bhairava, Anupama Parameswaran for the success. Everyone from young to old watched the film, I thank them for the love. I also thank the National Award council for the honour.

70th National Film Awards announcement live updates: Check out full list of winners here.

70th National Film Awards announcement live updates: Best Supporting Actress winner Neena Gupta spoke to Hindustan Times about the win, her first National Award in 30 years. She said she would like to ‘dedicate the award to myself.’

The Best Film winner Aattam is a Malayalam movie. The official synopsis reads: 'Late after a party amongst a theatre group, their sole actress, Anjali, is groped by one of the twelve men of the group. An urgent meeting between all but the accused is called for. In trying to reach a consensus on his expulsion, stories unravel, suspicions surface, and clamor ensues.'

It's available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.

After the announcement, ‘Best Actor’ is trending on Twitter, with fans celebrating the big win for Rishabh Shetty.

70th National Film Awards announcement live updates: Sooraj R Barjatya judged best director for Uunchai.

70th National Film Awards announcement live updates: Malayalam movie Aattam wins Best Feature Film. Kantara won the award for Best Film (Wholesome Entertainment), Brahmastra won Best VFX Film.

Rishabh Shetty wins Best Actor for Kantara. He also directed the movie.

Nitya Menon and Maansi Paarekh win Best Actress.

70th National Film Awards announcement live updates: Neena Gupta wins Best Actress in Supporting Role for Uunchai.

70th National Film Awards announcement live updates: Arijit Singh won Best Playback Singer for Brahmastra.

70th National Film Awards announcement live updates: Pritam won Best Music Director for Brahmastra. AR Rahman won Best Background music for Ponniyin Selvan 2. Anand Krishnamurthy won Best Sound Design, also for Ponniyin Selvan

Sharmila Tagore's Gulmohar wins Best Hindi Film National Award. It aslo stars Manoj Bajpayee.