NEW DELHI, OCT 22
Star quotient ruled the National Film Awards presentation ceremony on Friday as superstar Amitabh Bachchan and a host of Bollywood and regional cinema achievers were honoured by President Pratibha Patil here.
Veteran producer D Ramanaidu was conferred with the Dada Saheb Phalke award.
Except veteran musician Illyaraja, who bagged the award for his background score in “Pazhassi Raja”, and Ranjan Palit, who has been awarded for the best voiceover, all other winners were present.
While Bachchan received the best actor award for his performance in “Paa”, relative newcomer Ananya Chatterjee got the best actress award for her role in Bengali film “Abohoman”.
Aamir Khan-starrer “3 Idiots” got the award for the best popular movie.
But it was Malayalam drama “Kutty Srank” which walked away with five awards, including the best feature film.
“Kutty Srank”, with Mammootty in the lead, also won awards for best cinematography, best screenplay, best costume and a special jury recognition which it shared with Bollywood hit “Kaminey” and Malayalam film “Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja”.
While producer Reliance Big Picture and director Shaji N Karun of “Kutty Srank” received Swarna Kamal and Rs 2.5 lakh each, the producer and director of “3 Idiots” – Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Raj Kumar Hirani got Swarna Kamal and Rs 2 lakh each.
Bachchan got a standing ovation when he received the Rajat Kamal and Rs 50,000 from the President. His wife Jaya, son Abhishek Bachchan and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai were present at the function when the actor received his fourth national award.
