Indian cinema’s 2024 winners gathered at Ekta Nagar, Gujarat, on Tuesday for the 72nd National Film Awards, presented by President Droupadi Murmu . HTCity was in Kevadia to witness the ceremony.
Kartik Aaryan who won Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in the 2024 biographical sports drama film Chandu Champion while addressing media at Statue of unity, said, “I have received my first National Award for Chandu Champion . Sheetal Iqbalchand Sharma, who won Best costume designer along with Deepali Noor for at Pushpa 2: The Rule tells us, “We worked on the film for three years. The short film Angen Best Debut Non-Feature Film of a Director, its director, Ravi Raj Murmu, was recognized under the Non-Feature Films section for this historic 12-minute Santali-language short film.
Director Tushar Hiranandani won the Best Hindi Feature Film award for his biographical drama Srikanth told us, “You can never make a film thinking it will make money at the box office or win awards you make a film cause yoy want to tell a story and i wanted to tell Srikanth ‘s story in the best way possible and i did that. Because dancers are not defined by gender, we got got male dancers to join Tamanaah. The wins stretched across languages and crafts. The Gujarat edition also signals a wider change, with the I&B Ministry saying future ceremonies will travel to different states. I am truly, incredibly happy my entire family is overjoyed, and our whole team is thrilled. Reflecting on the journey we began with Chandu Champion and the way this film inspires so many people especially regarding the Paralympians. I can only express my gratitude to the jury and the entire audience across India for choosing us. I don’t know about others but winning the National Award defiantly gives you the confidence to make the film you want to make. I knew we did something right. The song was originally a ghazal with lots of adah and nazakat. They turned out to be phenomenal. Im happy to represent my mother tongue and its rare for a Marathi song to win best singer. We are celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi and its Mahalaxmi time, so the award has come at the perfect time as a blessing. I cried when I heard the news. The film required massive detail for which i stayed in the village the film was set. The highlight was Allu Arjun’s Goddess look. It was a challenge to show a masculine character in a sari. It required research on the festival around which the scenes were set- Jatra. I hope it will inspite budding filmmakers from our community. It was a workshop film, an experiment made to teach students how to make films.”
Kartik Aaryan , who shared Best Actor with Malayalam legend Mammootty , said the win left his family and the film’s team “overjoyed”. Yami Gautam Dhar won Best Actress for Article 370 said the honour made her feel “like a newcomer”, while veteran Anant Nag received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Marathi singer Abhay Jodhpurkar called his honour “a blessing”, Pushpa 2 costume winner Sheetal Sharma spoke about creating Allu Arjun’s Goddess look, while Ravi Raj Murmu said Angen was the “first ever Santali film to win the National Award”. Choreographer Vijay Ganguly won the Best Choreography award for the hit song “Aaj Ki Raat” from the horror-comedy movie Stree told us, “We realised the song is so loved when I saw children dancing to it. Abhay Jodhpurkar who won the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer for the song “Navasachi Gauri Mazi” from the Marathi film Gharat Ganpati, told us, “The Marathi industry and songs are killing it. Ravi Raj Murmu told us, “My first is the first ever Santali film to win the National award.
