NEW DELHI: Shaji N Karun’s Kutty Srank dominated the National Film Awards, winning five categories, including the top honour of being the best feature film of 2009. The best actor trophy went to Amitabh Bachhan for his portrayal of a child suffering from progeria in Paa and Aamir Khan-starrer 3 Idiots was declared the most popular film.
Kutty Srank’s production team won laurels as Anjuli Shukla, who shot the film, was declared the best cinematographer.
She is perhaps the first woman cinematographer to win a national award.
P F Mathews and Harikrishna won the best screenplay award and Jayakumar was adjudged the best costume designer for the movie. The film’s editor Sreekar Prasad -- who also edited Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja and Hindi film Kaminey -- got special jury award.
The best actress award went to Ananya Chatterjee for her role in the film Abohoman , which also fetched best director award for Rituparno Ghosh. The film won the award for best editing as well.
Bollywood’s blockbuster 3 Idiots was chosen to be the best popular film, providing wholesome entertainment and Delhi 6 got the Nargis Dutt award for best feature film on national integration.
Kannada film Putaani Party , directed by Ramchandra P N, shared the award for being the best children’s film with Keshu in Malayalam.
Tamil film Pasanga ’s actors Jeeva and Anba Karasu were selected as the best child artists. Pasanga also won award for best dialogues.
Amitabh Bachhan’s co-star in Paa , Arundhati Naag, walked away with the best supporting actress award. Farooque Sheikh was decalred the best supporting actor for Hindi film Lahore whose director Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan was declared the best debutant.
Veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal’s Well Done Abba , a social political satire about a common man’s fight for justice against a corrupt system, got the award for being the best film on social issues.
The jury for National Awards 2009 was headed by Bollywood producer and director Ramesh Sippy.
The jury commented that Amitabh Bachhan was chosen best actor for a rare performance that fuses the art and craft of an actor to create a character that lives with you long after the film is over.
This is Bachchan’s third best actor national award after Agneepath and Black .
In the film music category, Amit Trivedi got the best music director (songs) award for Dev-D and Ilayaraja got the award for best background score for Malyalayam film Kerala Varma Pazassi Raja .
Telugu film Magadheera got the awards for best special effects (R Kamal Kannan) and best choreography (K Siva Shankar).
