Prez gives away national film awards

NEW DELHI: Bollywood stars turned up in full strength for the 57th National Film Awards on Friday including best actor winner Amitabh Bachchan, directors Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Rajkumar Hirani and singers Shaan and Shantanu Moitra.
Veteran producer D Ramanaidu was conferred with the Dada Saheb Phalke award by President Pratibha Patil while Bachchan received the best actor award and was greeted by a standing ovation.Best actress award was received by Ananya Chatterjee for Bengali film `Abohoman' while Aamir Khan-starrer `3 Idiots' got the award for the best popular movie.
Malayalam drama `Kutty Srank' walked away with five awards, including the best feature film, best cinematography, best screenplay, best costume and a special jury recognition which it shared with Bollywood hit `Kaminey' and Malayalam film `Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja'.
Remarking on the large number of films from the northeast, Patil said affordable technologies like the digital format allowed younger filmmakers to experiment with the medium.
Speaking on the occasion, I&B minister Ambika Soni said the ministry was working towards showcasing India's talent and cinematic heritage in the year 2013 which would be the centenary year for the Indian film industry. Soni said the ministry would utilise this platform to showcase India's cinematic brilliance across the country as well as globally.
Plans are afoot to complete the Museum of Indian Cinema in Mumbai, the National Centre of Excellence for Animation, Gaming and Visual Effects in Pune and the National Archival Heritage Mission to cover the country's rich archival wealth, by 2013.
At the awards, Mehra's `Delhi 6', shot in the bylanes of Old Delhi, bagged the Nargis Dutt award for best feature film on national integration while Shyam Benegal's `Well Done Abba' was chosen as the best movie on social issues.
Amit Trivedi got the best music director award for Anurag Kashyap's `Dev D', a modern take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's classic `Devdas' while `Behti hawa sa tha woh' from `3 Idiots' bagged the best lyrics award for Swanand Kirkere.
The best children's film award was shared by `Putaani Party' in Kannada and `Keshu' in Malayalam. Jeeva and Anba Karaus shared the best child actor award. Telegu film `Magadheera' bagged awards for special effects and choreography.
The best audiography award was shared by Oscar winner Resool Pookutty and Amrit Pritam for `Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja', Subash Sahoo (location sound) for `Kaminey' and Anup Dev (re-recordist of the final missed track) for `3 Idiots'.