71st National Film Awards: Urvashi, Vijayaraghavan bag acting honours; 'Ullozhukku' named Best Malayalam film

The 71st National Film Awards, recognising the best of Indian cinema from 2023, were announced today — and Malayalam cinema emerged with several major honours across categories.

The Best Actor award was shared by Shah Rukh Khan and Vikrant Massey, while Rani Mukerji won the Best Actress award. Incidentally, this is Shah Rukh Khan's first National Award in a career spanning over 30 years. Vidhu Vinod Chopra's '12th Fail' featuring Vikrant Massey in the lead, was adjudged the Best Feature Film.

'Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani' directed by Karan Johar and featuring Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh won the award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. Christo Tomy’s acclaimed debut feature Ullozhukku won the Best Malayalam Film award. Veteran actor Urvashi received the Best Supporting Actress award for her performance in the film, sharing the honour with Janki Bodiwala for the Gujarati film Vash.

Controversial film 'The Kerala Story' won two awards with Prasantanu Mohapatra winning the Best Cinematographer and Sudipto Sen receiving the award for Best Director. Vijayaraghavan was awarded Best Supporting Actor for his role in Pookkaalam, a win he shared with Muthupettai Somu Bhaskar for the Tamil film 'Parking.'

'Pookkaalam' also took home the Best Editing award. Singer Shilpa Roa won the Best Female Playback Singer award for the song 'Chaliya' in the Hindi film 'Jawan', while PVN S Rohit took home the award for the song 'Premisthunna' in the Telugu film 'Baby'.

Jude Anthany Joseph’s widely praised disaster drama 2018, which depicted the Kerala floods, was honoured for Best Production Design, adding another feather to its cap. In the non-feature films category, 'Nekal – Chronicle of the Paddy Man,' directed by M K Ramadas, received a Special Mention. Meanwhile, 'Parking' was named Best Tamil Film in the regional feature film category.

'Flowering Man' directed by Soumyajit Ghosh Dastidar won the Swarna Kamal award in the Best Non-Feature Film category. Filmmaker Piyush Thakur won the Best Director award for the Hindi movie 'The First Film'. Saravanamaruthu Soundarapandi and Meenakshi Soman won the Best Cinematography award for the film 'Little Wings' (Tamil).

Here's the full list of winner
Feature films

Special mentions: MR Rajakrishnan (Animal - Re-Recording)
Best Tai Phake Film: Pai Tang…Step of Hope
Best Garo Film: Rimdottianga
Best Telugu Film: Bhagavanth Kesari
Best Tamil Film: Parking
Best Punjabi Film: Godday Godday Chaa
Best Odia Film: Pushkar
Best Marathi Film: Shyamchi Aai
Best Malayalam Film: Ullozhukku
Best Kannada Film: Kandeelu
Best Hindi Film: Kathal
Best Gujarati Film: Vas
Best Bengali Film: Deep Fridge
Best Assamese Film: Rongatapu 1982
Best Action Direction: Nandu-Prudhvi (HanuMan)
Best Choreography: Vaibhavi Merchant (Dindhora Baje Re - Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani)
Best Lyrics: Kasarla Shyam (Ooru Palleturu - Balagam)
Best Music Direction: GV Prakash Kumar (Vaathi), Harshavardhan Rameshwar (Animal)
Best Makeup: Shrikanth Desai (Sam Bahadur)
Best Costume Design: Sachin, Divya, Nidhhi (Sam Bahadur)
Best Sound Design: Sachin Sudhakaran, Hariharan (Animal)
Best Screenplay: Sai Rajesh (Baby), Ramkumar Balakrishnan (Parking)
Best Dialogue: Deepak Kingrani (Sirf Ek Bandha Kaafi Hai)
Best Cinematography: Prasanthanu Mohapatra (The Kerala Story)
Best Playback Singer: Shilpa Rao (Chaliya - Jawan), Rohit (Premisthunna - Baby)
Best Child Artist: Sukriti Bandireddi (Gandhi Thatha Chettu), Kabir Khandare (Gypsy), Treesha Toshar, Shrinivas Pokale, Bhargav (Naal 2)
Best Actress in Supporting Role: Urvashi (Ullozhukku), Janki Bodiwala (Vash),
Best Actor in Supporting Role: Vijayaraghavan (Pookalam), Muthupettai Somu Bhaskar (Parking)
Best Actress in Leading Role: Rani Mukerji (Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway), Best Actor in Leading Role: Shah Rukh Khan (Jawan), Vikrant Massey (12th Fail)
Best Diretion: Sudipto Sen (The Kerala Story)
Best Film in AVGC: HanuMan
Best Children’s Film: Naal 2
Best Film Promoting National, Social Values: Sam Bahadur
Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani
Best Debut Film: Aatmapamphlet
Best Film: 12th Fail

Non-feature films
Special mentions: Nekal – Chronicle of the Paddy Man, The Sea and the Seven Villages
Best Script: Sunflowers Were The First Ones To Know
Best Voiceover: Hari Krishnan S (The Sacred Jack – Exploring The Tree of Wishes)
Best Music Direction: Pranil Desai (The First Film)
Best Editing: Niladri Roy (Moving Focus)
Best Sound Design: Shubarun Sengupta (Dhundhgiri Ke Phool)
Best Cinematography: Meenakshi Soman, Saravanamaruthu (Little Wings)
Best Direction: Piyush Thakur (The First Film)
Best Short Film: Giddh The Scavenger
Best Non-Feature Film Promoting Social and Environmental Values: The Silent Epidemic
Best Documentary Film: God Vulture and Human
Best Art/Culture Film: Timeless Tamil Nadu
Best Biographical/Historical Reconstruction Film: Mo Bou Mo Gaan, Lentina Ao
Best Debut Film: The Spirit Dreams of Cheraw
Best Non-Fiction Film: Flowering Man