CHENNAI: The 72nd National Awards for the best in Indian cinema for the year 2024, was announced late on Saturday. Amongst Tamil films, Amaran and Maharaja were the biggest winners alongside Dhanush, who also bagged multiple awards.
Amaran, a biopic about the life of late Major Mukund Varadarajan, won awards for Best Director (Rajkumar Periasamy), Best background music (GV Prakash Kumar), and Best editing (R Kalaivannan). Dhanush’s Raayan, which marked his sophomore directorial, also won the Best Tamil Film award.
Speaking to CE, Amaran director Rajkumar said, “I have to speak to the family of Major Mukund. Indhu ma’am (Major Mukund’s wife Indhu Rebecca Varghese) is in Australia right now.
His father and mother are at home in India, and they keep in touch with me constantly. Mukund sir’s mother told me that I would definitely win the National Award.”
Another big winner was Maharaja, which won actor Sachana Namidass the National Award for Best Supporting Actress. Sharing her reactions, she said, “While my parents are extremely happy, it was my twin sister who felt very emotional for my win. In fact, she cried more than me. I want to dedicate this award to her.” She also credited director Nithilan Saminathan and actor Vijay Sethupathi for helping her. “Without his (Vijay Sethupathi) guidance, I wouldn’t have been where I am today. He gave me many valuable suggestions on set. Nithilan sir also gave me the freedom to perform my best.”
Stunt choreographer Anl Arasu won his maiden National Award for Best Stunt Choreography for his work in Maharaja. “I was told that over 400 films have competed in this category, but winning such an award for a film which is grounded and realistic feels specials,” said Arasu in a conversation with CE.
He added, “Recognition for stuntmen is very new and this category amongst the National awards is also new. But I only hope that stuntmen are recognised more and rewarded more.”
It was happy days for Dhanush as he got a special mention for his performance in Arun Matheswaran’s Captain Miller, which also won the National Award for Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social and Environmental values.
Speaking to CE, director Arun said, “I am happy that Captain Miller got this type of recognition as one of the goals were to highlight the issue of equality. Getting this recognition on a national level motivates us to write more and create more.” Meanwhile, sound designer Suren G got a Special Mention for his work in Meiyazhagan, with TS Hari Hara Sudhan getting the Best Sound Design award for the film Blue.