Produced by: Suniyojit Kaushik
Designed by: Manoj Kumar
The 69th National Film Awards for 2021 took place at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, where President Droupadi Murmu felicitated the winners in the Indian cinema industry. The event was live streamed by the Press Information Bureau on its social media channels and telecast on Doordarshan.
Allu Arjun won Best Actor for Pushpa: The Rise while Alia Bhatt and Kriti Sanon shared the National Film Award for Best Actress for Gangubai Kathiawadi and Mimi respectively.
Rocketry: The Nambi Effect won the Best Feature Film, while The Kashmir Files received the Nargis Dutt Award for National Integration at the 69th National Film Awards. Nikhil Mahajan was named Best Director for the Marathi film Godavari.
Veteran actress Waheeda Rehman was honoured with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award at the 69th National Film Awards. Mentioning the importance of all those involved in the process of making a film, right from her co-stars, director, producer to make-up artists and hairstylists, she said, "I want to share this award with all the departments of the film industry."
Director SS Rajamouli expressed immense joy on the red carpet of the 69th National Film Awards, stating that the RRR team is "very very happy" to win six awards. RRR bagged the National Awards in Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, Best Music Direction (Background Music), Best Choreography and three other categories.
Filmmaker Karan Johar said that he feels "humbled, honoured, and privileged" to win a National Film Award for Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani starrer Shershaah, which won the Special Jury Award in Features Film category. In an interaction with Doordarshan, he mentioned how he completed 25 years in the film industry on Oct 16 and how his first ever directorial Kuch Kuch Hota Hai had also won a National Award in the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment category.
Elated about winning the Best Actor National Award, Allu Arjun told Doordarshan, "I am extremely happy to receive this award, especially for a commercial film." While heading to the ceremony, he recreated his signature move from Pushpa on the red carpet.
Pankaj Tripathi won his second National Film Award. At the 69th National Film Awards, he was named the Best Supporting Actor for the Kriti Sanon starrer Mimi. Earlier, he won the National Film Award – Special Mention for the 2017 film Newton.
Ranbir Kapoor joined his wife Alia Bhatt at the 69th National Awards ceremony in New Delhi. Alia won Best Actress award for her portrayal of the titular character in the Sanjay Leela Bhansali directorial Gangubai Kathiawadi.