The 68th National Awards were announced on Friday and Ajay Devgn along with Suriya won the Best Actor award. Devgn won the prestigious award for his role in Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior while Suriya was honoured with the award for his performance in Soorarai Pottru. This marks Devgn’s third Best Actor Award at the National Awards.
Reacting to the honour, Devgn said in a statement that he was elated to be winning the category with Suriya. He expressed his gratitude to his team, fans and parents.
“I’m elated to win the Best Actor Award for Tanhaji—The Unsung Warrior at the 68th National Awards along with Suriya who won for Soorarai Pottru. I thank everyone, most of all my creative team, the audience and my fans. I also express my gratitude to my parents & the Almighty for their blessings. Congratulations to all the other winners,” he said.
Tanhaji also won award for the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and Best Costume Designer at the 68th National Awards. Speaking about winning the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, Devgn added, “As the producer of Tanhaji—The Unsung Warrior, it gives me immense joy to receive an honour at the 68th National Film Awards for the Best film that has provided wholesome entertainment. Tanhaji was exactly that. It is a good story of friendship, loyalty, family values and sacrifice. It has strong national sentiments, super VFX and a holistic approach in entertainment. I must share the honour with my director Om Raut, my co-producers, T-Series and my co-actors. Most of all, I thank my creative team who has contributed handsomely to making this a blockbuster and now a National Award winner.”
The Bollywood film was among the few Bollywood films that managed to get a theatrical release before the Covid-19 pandemic brought life to a standstill, shutting down theatres in the country for several months. According to Bollywood Hungama, the film collected Rs 279.55 cr.
Meanwhile, Suriya’s OTT release Soorarai Pottru won five awards at the 68th National Awards. The film not only won the Best Actor but also bagged the Best Film. Aparrna Balamurali won Best Actress while GV Prakash won the award for Best Background Music.
Soorai Pottru was based on the life of entrepreneur GR Gopinath, who started Deccan Airline for the low-cost air ticket system. In the film directed by Sudha Kongara, Suriya’s performance was greatly acclaimed, as was the story, screenplay, direction and music. The film is being remade in Hindi, with Akshay Kumar starring in the lead.
