Rajnikanth, Kangana Ranaut, Vijay Sethupathi, Dhanush, Manoj Bajpayee receive top honours at the 67th National awards

After a delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 67th National awards for the year 2019 were handed out in a ceremony at the Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. The awards had been announced earlier this year in March.

The Dadasaheb Phalke award was given to veteran actor Rajinikanth for his outstanding contribution to the world of Indian cinema. All eyes were on the south superstar and he got the loudest cheers upon receiving the trophy.

The actor’s wife Lathaa, daughter Soundarya Rajinikanth, son-in-law Dhanush and grandchildren Yatra and Linga applauded him as he received the honour. The soft-spoken star took to the podium afterwards and dedicated the award to filmmaker K Balachander, whom he called ‘his guru’.

He said, “This moment, I remember him with great gratitude, and my brother Satyanarayan Gaikwad who's like my father who brought me up by teaching me great values and spirituality. My friend in Karnataka, bus transport driver and colleague, Rajbahadur. When I was the bus conductor, he identified the acting talent in me and encouraged me to join the cinema. All my producers, directors, co-artistes, technicians, distributors, exhibitors and the media, press and all my fans. Tamil people — without them I am nobody."

The superstar's son-in-law Dhanush was on hand to receive the Best Actor Award for Asuran (2019), which he shared with Manoj Bajpayee for Bhonsle (2020). The Best Actress award was picked up by Kangana Ranaut for Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (2019) and Panga (2020); this was her fourth award.

Vijay Sethupathi received the Best Supporting Actor Award for Super Deluxe (2019), while filmmaker Priyadarshan stepped up to the stage to receive the award for the Best Feature Film for the Malayalam film Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham (2021) starring Mohanlal.

Producer Sajid Nadiadwala picked up the award for Best Hindi Film for Chhichhore (2019), along with director Nitesh Tiwari. The makers dedicated the honour to its late star, Sushant Singh Rajput.

The in-person ceremony was presided upon by the vice-president, M Venkaiah Naidu, who handed out the awards to the numerous awardees. Speaking after all the awards were handed out, Naidu stated, “A film should be a vehicle with a higher purpose — a carrier of a social, moral and ethical message. Moreover, films should refrain from highlighting violence and should voice society’s disapproval of social evils. They should totally avoid the use of gross vulgarity and obscenity. Experience tells us that a film with a message has lasting appeal.”

“The cinema industry should not do anything that weakens our great culture, traditions, values and ethos of our grand civilization. Indian films carry an important message to audiences across the world. They should portray a snapshot of 'Indianness' or 'Bharatheeyatha' to the outside world and need to be effective ambassadors in the world of cultural diplomacy,” he added.

This sentiment was echoed by Union information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur, who also urged that tickets be affordable for all sections of the audience.