The National Film Awards were announced on April 7 in New Delhi and Sonam Kapoor’s Neerja was named the Best Hindi Feature Film while Akshay Kumar was proclaimed Best Actor for Rustom.
Tinu Suresh Desai’s Rustom was inspired by the 1959 Nanavati case and also featured Ileana D’Cruz opposite Akshay. This is Akshay Kumar’s first National award and the actor took to twitter and posted a heartfelt video;
#NationalFilmAwards : Best Actor for Rustom,countless emotions,very hard to express my gratitude right now but still tried,a big THANK YOU🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/Wo7mfi6dI8
— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) April 7, 2017
Meanwhile, Amitabh Bachchan’s Pink was named the Best Film on Social Issues.
The National Film Awards jury was headlined by filmmaker Priyadarshan.
Here’s the list of winners: Best Hindi Feature Film: Neerja
Best Actor: Akshay Kumar for Rustom
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Best Actress: Surabhi C M for Minnaminungu-The Firefly
Special Mention: Sonam Kapoor for Neerja
Best Picture: Kaasav
Best Director: Rajesh Mapuska for Ventilator
Best Film on Social Issues: Pink
Best Children Film: Dhanak
Best Popular Film: Sathamanam Bhavathi
Best Supporting Actress: Zaira Wasim, ‘Dangal’
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