Allu Arjun bags best actor crown, Alia Bhatt & Kriti Sanon share best actress win at 69th National Film Awards

The 69th National Film Awards' exciting winners were unveiled on Thursday at 5 pm. These awards, among the most esteemed in the nation, recognize and honour exceptional talent within the Indian film industry. 

This year, Allu Arjun won the Best Actor award for his role in "Pushpa," while Alia Bhatt and Kriti Sanon jointly secured the Best Actress award for their performances in "Gangubai Kathiawadi" and "Mimi," respectively.

The accolades continued with "Rocketry: The Nambi Effect" securing the title of Best Feature Film, and "The Kashmir Files" earning the prestigious Nargis Dutt Award for Best Film on National Integration.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's prowess was celebrated as he received the Best Editor Award for directing "Gangubai Kathiawadi," which also bagged the award for Best Adapted Screenplay, shared by Bhansali and Utkarshini Vashishtha. Utkarshini Vashishtha and Prakash Kapadia were additionally honored as the Dialogue Writers for the same film.

Furthermore, the enthralling epic "RRR," helmed by SS Rajamouli, triumphed in multiple categories, securing awards for Best Action Direction, Choreography, and Special Effects.

The celebration of talent extended to the screenplay domain as well, with Shahi Kabir winning the award for Best Original Screenplay for the Malayalam film "Nayattu."

For the unversed, the awards were first handed out in 1954 and were known as the ‘State Awards’. At the time, only best films in different regional languages were recognised and awarded.