Southern cinema scored big at the 55th National Awards

New Delhi, Oct 21 (IANS) Tamil film "Kanchivaram" won the best feature film award at the 55th National Film Awards 2007, while Adoor Gopalakrishnan got the best director award for Malayalam film "Naalu Pennungal" at a glittering ceremony here Wednesday evening.

Prakash Raj got the best actor for his performance in "Kanchivaram" and Uma Shri was given best actress award for her role in "Gulabi Talkies" in Kannada.

"I am very excited. It's the biggest award of the country which has the second highest population in the world. I am on a high," Shailendra Singh, joint managing director of Perfect Picture Company (PPC) that produced "Kanchivaram", told IANS.

President Pratibha Patil presented the National Film Awards for 2007.

Legendary singer Manna Dey was conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2007 at the event.

"It's a really great feeling. Getting an award is no child's play. I have been singing for the last 60 years and with this appreciation, all my work has been paid off," he said.

Lyricist Prasoon Joshi received the best lyricist award for the song "Maa" from "Taare Zameen Par", and Shankar Mahadevan got the award for the best male playback singer for the same number and also performed it.

"It's a very different feeling than other awards... There's no razzmatazz. It was a lovely feeling. I am suddenly feeling very nationalistic after the award," said Prasoon.

Added Mahadevan: "It is amazing... this is, in fact, for the first time that there has been a performance at the National Awards ceremony and I am the first one to do it. It feels too good."

Shimit Amin received the best film in overall entertainment award for Shah Rukh Khan starrer "Chak De! India", about a humiliated national-level hockey player who steers the women's team to international victory.

Yash Chopra, who was here on behalf of his producer son Aditya, said: "We don't expect an award any film, but it feels very nice."

Sabu Cyril walked away with best art director trophy for "Om Shanti Om".

Veteran dance director Saroj Khan won award for choreographing the song "Yeh Ishk Hai" from "Jab We Met".

Shreya Ghoshal received female singer award for "Yeh Ishk Hai" and sang it too at the ceremony.

Anil Kapoor, the producer of "Gandhi My Father", got the special jury award for the film and his actress daughter Sonam Kapoor received it on his behalf.

Feroz Abbas Khan received the best screenplay award and Darshan Zariwala bagged the best supporting actor award for the "Gandhi My Father".

Said an elated Feroze Abbas Khan: "It's a great honour. I wasn't expecting an award but it has given me a boost to make more such films. Now my next is a socio-political thriller."

Shefali Shah received the best supporting actress for her performance in "The Last Lear".

Bhavna Talwar received Nargis Dutt Award for the best film on national integration for her directorial debut "Dharm" that explored religious undercurrents.

Amrit Sagar received the award for best direction in Hindi for "1971".

Sharad Goekar walked away with the best child actor trophy for his role in the Marathi film "Tingya".

The Indira Gandhi Award for the best first film of a director was bagged by Shivajee Chandrabushan for "Frozen", which has also been named for best cinematography.

Rituparno Ghosh bagged best direction award for his English film "The Last Lear"; Jabbar Patel for "Antardhwani", Zubin Garg for "Echoes of Silence"; Santosh Sivan for "Prarambha"; Jayaraj for Malayalam film "Vellapokathil", and Supriyo Sen for the film "Hope Dies Last in War".

The best music award has been bagged by Ouseppachan for his score in the Malayalam movie "Ore Kadal". Pattnam Rasheed gets the best make-up artist award for his work in Malayalam film "Paradesi".

Girish Kasaravalli's "Gulabi Talkies" about a Muslim midwife has been named the best Kannada film. Click the Movie button below for more info:
Kanchivaram