NEW DELHI: Amitabh Bachchan has bagged the National Award for Best Actor for his memorable performance as the teacher of a blind, deaf, and mute girl in Black. This will be his third National Award after Saat Hindustani and Agneepath.
The indefinite postponement of the awards, which were to be announced at a press conference in New Delhi on Monday, upset film aficionados. But DNA has learnt that while the Big B has won the best actor award, the National Award for Best Actress has gone to Sarika for her portrayal of a distraught mother affected by communal riots in Parzania.
Buddhadev Dasgupta’s Bengali film Kalpurush has been judged the Best Film by a jury chaired by yesteryear heroine B Saroja Devi.
The Award for Best Director goes to Rahul Dholakia for Parzania. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black has been adjudged Best Hindi Feature Film.
The awards will only be made official later, a source said, though it was not known how long the announcement would be delayed.
The information and broadcasting ministry will be referring to the law department a high court judgment in favour of documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan on the submission of uncensored films for consideration at the National Awards.
It appears that the ministry is debating whether to go in appeal against the judgment to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, uncensored short films by Patwardhan and three others have been presented before the non-feature film jury.
The Directorate of Film Festivals, which conducts the jury deliberations, was tight-lipped. But by evening a source confirmed the names of the top winners. The awards list is likely to be criticised for Rani Mukherji’s exclusion for her performance in Black.
