National Film Awards 2024: Nithya Menen, Rishab Shetty win best actor awards; KGF 2, PS-1 win big

Nithya Menen and Rishab Shetty

The winners of the 70th National Film Awards was announced by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The films released in 2022 were eligible for the award ceremony. Owing to the pandemic, the awards are running a year behind. At the press conference, the panel said that they are working towards bridging the gap and will most likely announce winners of the year 2023 latest by January next year.

The jury for the National Film Awards 2024 includes - Rahul Rawail, Chairperson of the Feature Film Jury; Nila Madhab Panda, Chairperson of the Non-Feature Film Jury; Mr. Gangadhar Mudalair, Chairperson of the Best Writing on Cinema Jury.

Talking about the 70th National Film Awards, the South cinema shone bright bagging multiple awards. While Nithya Menen won the Best Actress award for the Tamil film 'Thiruchitrambalam', Rishab Shetty won the Best Actor for Kannada film 'Kantara' which he also directed. Manasi Parekh also won the best actress award for the Gujarati film 'Kutch Express'.

The Best Film award was also bagged from a film down south. The Malayalam film 'Aattam' bagged the best film award. South movies like 'KGF 2', 'Ponniyin Selvan-1' also won multiple awards.

Take a look at the awards won by South Cinema at the 70th National Film Awards:

Best Actress:

Nithya Menen (Thiruchitrambalam) and Manasi Parekh (Kutch Express)

Best Actor:

Rishab Shetty for Kantara

Best Editing

Aattam (Malayalam)

Best Film:

Aattam (Malayalam)

Best Telugu film:

Karthikeya 2

Best Kannada film:

Kantara

Best Tamil film:

Ponniyin Selvan 1

Best Cinematography:

Ponniyin Selvan - Part 1

Best Female Playback:

Soudi Velakka CC.225/2009 (Malayalam)

Best Sound Design:

Ponniyin Selvan - Part 1

Best Screenplay:

Aattam

Best Music Director:

Pritam (Songs), AR Rahman (Background Score)

Best Choreography:

Thiruchitrabalam

Best Action Direction:

KGF: Chapter 2

Best Malayalam Film

Saudi Velakka CC.225/2009

In 2023, Best Actor award was won by Allu Arjun for Pushpa: The Rise, and the Best Actress award was won by Alia Bhatt for Gangubai Kathiawadi and Kriti Sanon for Mimi. The Best Supporting Actor award was won by Pankaj Tripathi for Mimi and Best Supporting Actress award was won by Pallavi Joshi for The Kashmir Files.

Meanwhile, at the 68th National Film Awards, the Tamil film Soorarai Pottru won the top prize, while late filmmaker Sachy won the Best Director honour for Ayyappanum Koshiyum. Ajay Devgn and Suriya shared the Best Actor award, while Aparna Balamurali won the Best Actress award.