Bollywood dominates 66th National Awards, Ayushmann and Vicky share best actor honours

Mainstream Hindi cinema emerged a major winner at the 66th National Film Awards on Friday with multiple recognitions for "Andhadhun", "Uri: The Surgical Strike" and "Badhaai Ho" while Gujarati film "Hellaro" bagged the best film honour.

Directed by Abhishek Shah, "Hellaro" is set in Gujarat's Kutch region and explores the theme of women empowerment. The film also bagged the special jury award shared by its 13 leading ladies.

Of the top three National Awards, "Uri: The Surgical Strike" won Aditya Dhar a best director award for his debut film and Vicky Kaushal the best actor, a laurel he shared with Ayushmann Khuranna for his role in "Andhadhun".

Keerthy Suresh won the best actress award for her role as yesteryear Telugu star Savitri in biopic "Mahanati". The film was also recognised for its costumes.

Ayushmann and Vicky, who shared the best actor award, are known for their unconventional choices. Ayushmann plays a seemingly blind pianist in "Andhadhun", a critically acclaimed thriller, while Vicky portrays an Army officer in "Uri...", which recaps India's surgical strike in September 2016 in the wake of a terror attack on an army base in Uri.

Dhar dedicated his best director to "each and every brave soldier" in the country. The film also won the best music director award (background music) for Shashwat Sachdev and sound design.

Acknowledging his best actor award, Ayushmann said, "I have always tried to back disruptive content that stands out for its quality content. Today's honour is a validation of my hard work, belief system, my journey in movies and my reason to be an actor in the first place."
Rima Das, whose last feature "Village Rockstars" was 2017's best film, registered yet another win with her follow up "Bulbul Can Sing"