64th National Film Awards: 'Neerja', Akshay Kumar & Sonam Kapoor wins big!

The winners of the 64th Annual National Awards were announced today at the National Media Centre, in New Delhi. Ram Madhvani's 'Neerja' has been announced the winner in the 'Hindi Feature Film'category. The film, released last year, narrates the story of Neerja Bhanot, a Pan Am purser, who lost her life while saving the passengers when the Pan Am was hijacked at Karachi airport on September 5 1986. Sonam Kapoor, 'Neerja's lead actor, also gets a special mention by the jury. Other than this, Akshay Kumar won the National Award in the 'Best Actor' category for the movie 'Rustom,' while Best Actress went to Surabhi for Malayalam movie 'Minnaminungu'. Nagesh Kukunoor's film 'Dhanak' is awarded with 'Best Children's Film,' while 'PINK' took home the national award for 'Best Film on Social Issues.' Here is the complete list of winners: Best Animation: Hum Chitra Banate Hain Best Educational Film: The Waterfalls Best Environment Film: The Tiger Who Crossed the Line Best Biographical/Historical reconstruction: Zikr Uss Parivash Ka Best Environmental Film including Agriculture: The Tiger who crossed the Line' Best Marathi Film: Dashakriya Best Kannada Film: Reservation Best Bengali Film: Bisarjan Best Film on Social Issues: PINK Best Tamil Film: Joker Best Gujarati Film: Wrong Side Raju Best Telugu Movie: Pellichuplu Best Visual Effects: Shivaay Best Female Playback Singer: Iman Chakraborty Best Male Playback Singer: Sunder Iyer Best Actor: Akshay Kumar, 'Rustom' Best Actress: Surabhi, 'Minnaminungu' Best Children's Film: Dhanak, Hindi Best Supporting Actress: Zaira Wasim, 'Dangal' Best Supporting Actor: Manoj Joshi, 'Dashakriya' Best Film on Social Issues: Pink Best Action Choreography: Vysakh for Pulimurugan Best Feature Film: Kasav (Marathi film) Best Director: Rajesh Mapuskar, 'Ventilator' Indira Gandhi Award for debut director: Khalifa (Bengali) Best action director and stunt choreographer: Peter Haines, 'Pulimurugan' Best Editing - Rameshwar, 'Ventilator' Sound designer - Jayadevan, 'Kaadu Pookunna Neram' Best production design - 24 Best Costume Designer - Sachin Best Make-up Artist - MK Ramakrishna Best Music Direction - Babu Padmanabha Special Mentions: The Eyes of Darkness Kadvi Hawa Adil Hussain for Mukti Bhawan (Hindi) Adil Hussain for Majirathi Keki (Assamese) Sonam Kapoor (Neerja) Madipur (Tulu) Joker (Tamil) Wrongside Raju (Gujarati) Pelli Chupulu (Telugu) Dasakriya (Marathi) Maheshinte Prathikaram (Malayalam) Ke Sara Sara (Konkini) Reservation (Kannada) Neerja (Hindi) - Special Jury award for Mohanlal for Pulimurugan, Janatha Garage and Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbol Total of 344 films were competing for the top spot, and the jury saw a 89 movies of all those movies. The jury included eminent film director, producer and National Award winner, Priyadarshan, as the chairperson in Feature Films category. ANI