Sanchari Vijay, Kangana Ranaut bags national award

New Delhi: Sanchari Vijay was declared best actor for his powerful performance in the Kannada film “Nanu Avanalla Avalu” while Kangana Ranaut won the best actress awards for her role in the Hindi film “Queen”, as the National Film Awards for 2014 announced here on Tuesday.

Vijay was named for the prestigious award for his “subtle and non-stereotypical” performance of a woman trapped in a man’s body, portraying a gamut of emotions “as s/he struggles through confusion, rejection and humiliation to finally chart her own course with confidence and dignity,” the citation of the award said.

The jury named Kangana the best actress for her “endearing” act, grounded in “contextual specificity” and at the same time “disarmingly spontaneous as to appear almost improvisatory”. 

This is Kangana’s second national award. She bagged the first for her role as a supporting actress in the Hindi film “Fashion” in 2010. The awards for the best actor and best actress carry a Rajat Kamal and Rs 50,000 cash prize.

Internationally acclaimed Marathi film “Court”, directed by Chaitanya Tamhane, won the best feature film award. The jury had received a total of 320 entries in this category.

“‘Court’ is a power and stark depiction of mundaneness of judicial procedure revealed brilliantly by the film’s form, forcing us to reflect on the heart-wrenching insensitivity of institutional structures,” said the citation.

Shahid Kapoor-starrer “Haider”, a Kashmir-set modern adaptation of Shakespeare's
“Hamlet”, won five honours. Vishal Bhardwaj was named best music director.

Vikas Bahl-helmed “Queen” won the best Hindi film award while Priyanka Chopra-starrer “Mary Kom” was named the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment.

“Harivu”, directed by Manjunath S, was declared the best Kannada film. “Ain”, by Sidhartha Siva, was declared the best Malayalam Film. 

“Kuttram Kadithal”, by Bramma G, was the best Tamil Film, “Chandamama Kathalu” by Praveen Sattaru the best Telugu film award, and “Killa”, directed by Avinash Arun, was declared the best Marathi film.

The best film award under language category carries a Rajat Kamal and Rs 1 lakh prize each to the producer and director.

Sukhvinder Singh bagged the best male playback singer award for the song “Bismil” in “Haider”. Uttara Unnikrishanan won the best female playback singer award for song “Azhagu” in the Tamil film “Saivam”. “Azhagu” also got N A Muthukumar the award for best lyrics.

The best direction award went to Srijit Mukherji for his Bengali film “Chotushkone”. The award carries a Swarna Kamal and Rs 2.5 lakh cash. The film also won awards for best cinematography and screenplay (original).

Tamil actor Bobby Simhaa won the best supporting actor award for “Jigarthanda”, whose second win was in the best editing category. Baljinder Kaur from Haryana was declared best supporting actress.

Tamil movie “Kaakkaa Muttai” and Marathi drama “Elizabeth Ekadashi” shared the best children’s film award. The best child artiste awards were shared by “Kaakkaa Muttai” actors J Vignesh and Ramesh.

Films division production “Tender is the Sight”, directed by Torsha Banerjee, won the best non-feature film award.

The award carries Swarna Kamal and Rs 1.50 lakh each to the producer and director of the film.