The National Film Award for Best Actor was first presented in 1967 to Uttam Kumar for his brilliant performances in two Bengali films. In Antony Firingee, he portrayed the real-life figure Anthony Firingee (Hensman Anthony), a Bengali language folk poet of Portuguese origin, and in Chiriyakhana, he played the fictional character of Byomkesh Bakshi.
As of today, 52 National Film Awards for Best Actor have been awarded to 40 different actors across multiple languages in the Indian film industry. And one actor has won it four times, the maximum by an individual and he is none other than the legendary Amitabh Bachchan aka the 'Shahenshah of Bollywood'.
Bachchan's first honour came for his memorable performance as Vijay Deenanath Chauhan in Mukul Anand's 1990 film Agneepath, which was remade in 2012 with Hrithik Roshan stepping into Big B's shoes. Amitabh won the second National Award for Best Actor for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 2005 film Black in which he played Debraj Sahai, a teacher of a visually and hearing impaired woman named Michelle McNally, essayed by Rani Mukerji.
For his brilliant performance as Auro, having the rare genetic condition of progeria, in the 2009 film Paa directed by R. Balki, the veteran actor received his third National Award. Amitabh's fourth National Award was for playing a cantankerous father Bhashkor Banerjee in Shoojit Sircar's 2015 film Piku, in which Deepika Padukone played the titular role.
Meanwhile, on the work front, Big B will be seen next in the action-thriller Ganapath Part 1. The Vikas Bahl directorial, which also features Tiger Shroff and Kriti Sanon, is set for a theatrical release on October 20. The 80-year-old actor also has Nag Ashwin's big-budget sci-fi epic Project K with Prabhas, Deepika Padukone, and Kamal Haasan lined up.
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