The 70th National Awards were held on October 8, at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. President Draupadi Murmu presented the awards to all the winners from the film industry. Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpayee received his fourth National Film Award for his performance in the OTT film Gulmohar.
After receiving the award, Manoj expressed his gratitude and thanked his co-stars and directors for the movie. He stated that it is a big thing when such a small movie makes its presence felt at the National Film Awards. The actor said, "I feel honoured. I cannot take all the credit myself. I thank my director, who offered me this film, and everyone who worked with me, all the co-stars who supported my work."
"I also thank my audience, who gave me love," he added.
Rahul V Chittela-directed 'Gulmohar' is a story of a Batra family who is ready to move out of their 34-year-old home 'Gulmohar' and discovers the bond that has held the family together with secrets and insecurities.
Manoj Bajpayee's List of National Awards
This is Manoj's fourth National Award. He received the award for the first time in 1999 for the Best Actor in a Supporting Role category. He won his second national award for 'Pinjar' in the Special Jury Award (Feature Film) category. In 2021, he received the Best Actor award for 'Bhosale' in the third award.
70th National Awards: All Winners
Here’s all winners for the 70th National Awards
- Best Feature Film: Aattam (Drama)
- Best Popular Film: Kantara
- Best Film in AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, & Comic): Brahmastra Part 1: Shiva
- Best Directorial Debut Film: Fauja
- Best Lead Actor: Rishab Shetty for Kantara
- Best Actress: Nithya Menen (Thiruchitrambalam) (Tamil), Manasi Parekh (Kutch Express) (Gujarati)
- Best Supporting Actor: Pawan Raj Malhotra, Fauja (Haryanvi)
- Best Supporting Actress: Neena Gupta (Height) (Hindi)
- Best Child Artist: Sripath, Malikappuram (Malayalam)
- Best Playback Singer Male: Arijit Singh for Kesariya from Brahmastra Part 1
- Best Playback Singer Female: Saudi Vellakka Bombay Jayashree for CC.225/2009 (Malayalam)
- Best Cinematography: Ravi Varman for Ponniyin Selvan Part 1 (Tamil)
- Best Dialogue Writer: Arpita Mukherjee and Rahul V Chittela (Gulmohar (Hindi))
- Best Screenplay: Anand Ekarshi for Aattam (Play)
- Best Sound Design: Anand Krishnamurthy for Ponniyin Selvan Part 1
- Best Editing: Mahesh Bhuvanend for Aattam (The Play)
- Best Production Design: Anand Adhya for Aparajito (Bengali)
- Best Costume Designer: Niki Joshi (Kutch Express) (Gujarati)
- Best Makeup: Somnath Kundu for Aparajito (Bengali)
- Best Music Director (Lyrics): Pritam for Brahmastra Part 1: Shiva (Hindi)
- Best Music Director (BGM): AR Rahman, Ponniyin Selvan Part 1 (Tamil)
- Best Lyrics: Naushad Sardar Khan for Fauja (Haryanvi)
- Best Choreography: Satish Krishnan, Thirichitrambalam (Tamil)
- Best Action Direction Award: Anbariv (KGF Chapter 2) (Kannada)
- Best Assamese Film: Emuthi Puthi
- Best Bengali Film: Kaberi Antardhan
- Best Hindi Film: Gulmohar
- Best Kannada Film: KGF Chapter 2
- Best Marathi Film: Valvi
- Best Malayalam Film: Saudi Vellakka CC.225/2009
- Best Odia Film: Daman
- Best Punjabi Film: Baaghi Di Dhi
- Best Tamil Film: Ponniyin Selvan Part 1
- Best Telugu Film: Karthikeya 2
- Best Tiwa Film: Sikkasal