New Delhi: The moment everyone is waiting for is here. The 69th National Film Awards winners have been announced. Alia Bhatt won the Best Actor ( female) National Film Award for 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' which was shared with Kriti Sanon for 'Mimi' while Allu Arjun won the Best Actor( male) National Film Award for 'Pushpa'. The National Film Award for Best Film went to'Rocketry: The Nambi Effect'.
Alia Bhatt and Kriti Sanon had a tie like the last year National film awards where there was tie between Suriya and Ajay Devgn. This year the Best Actor male National Film Award went to Allu Arjun with no other tie contendor.
The Best film went to 'Rocketry: The Nambi Effect' whcih starred R Madhavan in the titular role and also happened to be directed by him. The film was Madhavan's directorial debut.
Other Bollywood films like 'Shershaah' and 'Sardar Udham' also won special mentions. 'Sardar Udham' won the best cinematography award while also getting other mentions.
Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani starrer 'Shershaah' got the special jury mention.
The announcement of the 69th National Film Awards began at 5PM. The winners list was announced during a press conference by the esteemed jury at the National Media Centre, New Delhi. The event can be live streamed at PIB India's Facebook page and their official YouTube handle.
Last year, the Best Feature Film winner was the Tamil film 'Soorarai Pottru'. Aparna Balamurali bagged the Best Actor award while Suriya won the Best Actor award for 'Soorarai Pottru’ which he shared with Ajay Devgn for ‘Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior’.
Fan favourites this year were the Malayalam film 'Nayattu' starring Kunchako Boban, Joju George and Nimisha Sajayan and Suriya's 'Jai Bhim' for the Best Film National Award.
As for the Best Actor, both female and male categories, fans were trending their favourite artistes, their performances and singing their merits on social media platforms like Twitter ever since Thursday morning.