71st National Film Awards celebrates the diversity and richness of Indian storytelling

The prestigious 71st National Film Awards 2023 have been announced, sparking celebration across the Indian film industry. Notably, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan clinched his first-ever National Award for Best Actor for Jawan, sharing the honor with Vikrant Massey for 12th Fail. Telugu cinema made an impressive mark, bagging multiple awards in key categories.

Among the Telugu winners, Baby stood tall with PVN Rohith winning Best Male Playback Singer and Sai Rajesh receiving the award for Best Screenplay. Balagam lyricist Kasarla Shyam was recognized with the Best Lyrics award. The Nandamuri Balakrishna-starrer Bhagavanth Kesari was declared the Best Telugu Film, while Hanu-Man won accolades for Best Action Direction and Best VFX.

In other language categories, Tamil film Parking was named Best Tamil Film, while Ullozhokku won Best Malayalam Film. Kannada cinema’s Kandeelu: The Ray of Hope, Pushkara from Odia, and Godday Godday Chaa from Punjabi also secured top honors.

Rani Mukerji won Best Actress, and Jawan also bagged the Best Female Playback Singer award. Other technical categories saw Vaathi winning Best Music Direction for songs, Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani for Choreography, and The Kerala Story for Cinematography.

Malayalam film Pookalam won for Editing and Best Supporting Actor (Vijayaraghavan), while Ullozhokku secured Best Supporting Actress for Urvashi.

With standout wins across language cinema, the 71st National Film Awards once again celebrated the diversity and richness of Indian storytelling.