‘Honoured’, ‘humbled’ and ‘the one that truly matters’: National Film Award winners react

Mumbai, Aug 16 (PTI) Neena Gupta, Vishal Bhardwaj and the team of “Kantara” expressed their gratitude after their movies won major honours at the 70th National Film Awards on Friday.

Gupta, who last won the best supporting actress in 1994 for her role in “Woh Chhokri”, bagged another trophy in the same segment for her role in 2022 Hindi film “Uunchai”, which also won filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya his maiden award for best director.

“I can’t believe I’ve got the award. It is yet to sink in. I’ve got two National awards in the past (for ‘Bazar Sitaram’ and ‘Woh Chokri’) and I’m getting another National award after many many years, it’s a big thing for me,” Gupta told PTI.

“My mantra is to just keep working hard. There have been times when you don’t get an award even though when you’ve given a great performance but eventually your hard work pays off. I believe mehnat kare jao, phal toh milega aur yeh award meri mehnat ka phal hai (If you work hard, you will be awarded and this is the result of my hard work),” she added.

Bhardwaj won his career’s ninth National Film Award, the best music director for his short film “Fursat” in the non-feature film category.

“Just heard about the National Award for ‘Fursat’. I am deeply happy to get my 9th national award. It’s the biggest award of our country. The only one that truly matters. And winning this is the greatest validation of my work! Thank you Jury for this. Now I need to strive for a double digit,” Bhardwaj said in a statement.

The filmmaker has won the National Film Awards, mostly in music and screenplay categories for films such as “Haider”, “Ishqiya”, “Talvar” and “The Blue Umbrella”.

“Kantara” producers Vijay Kirgandur and Chaluve Gowda said the recognition means a lot to them as the film, which won the best Kannada film, best actor for Rishabh Shetty and popular film awards, for them is a “a reflection of the traditions, values and stories that have been passed down through generations”.

“We are deeply honoured and humbled to receive the prestigious National Award for ‘Kantara’. This recognition is not just a testament to the hard work and dedication of our entire team but also a celebration of the rich and vibrant Kannada culture that is at the heart of this film. For us, ‘Kantara’ is more than a movie…

“Our aim was to bring these deep-rooted cultural elements to the forefront and we are immensely glad that the film has resonated with audiences across the nation. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Government of India and the jury for this recognition,” they said in a joint statement.

Singer-composer Pritam who won the best music director award (song) for “Brahmastra Part 1: Shiva”, also thanked the jury for the recognition.

“Thanks to the makers and everyone associated with ‘Brahmastra Part 1 Shiva’ and a big thank to the audience for all their love,” Pritam said.

The best music director award, which is divided in two categories, also recognised A R Rahman’s background music for Mani Ratnam’s “Ponniyin Selvan Part 1”.