Lagaan sweeps national film awards

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">MUMBAI: Aamir Khan’s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Lagaan</span> swept eight awards, while Madhur Bhandarkar’s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Chandni Bar </span>won four awards and Revathy’s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Mitr-My Friend</span> three awards at the 49th National Film Awards.<br />Tabu shares the best actress award for her spitfire bar dancer Mumtaz who goes down fighting in <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Chandni Bar</span>, with the lovely Shobana for her role as a lonely wife who rejuvenates her marriage in<span style="" font-style:="" italic=""> Mitr-My Friend.</span><br />Best actor went to Malayalam actor Murali for his role in Priyanandan’s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Neythukaran</span> (The Weaver), about a leftist worker caught in a web of shifting values.<br />Best feature film award was bagged by Girish Kasaravalli’s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Dweepa</span> (Island, Kannada), on the dilemmas of a family threatened with displacement by a dam. B. Lenin won best director for<span style="" font-style:="" italic=""> Oruku Noorupe</span>r (A Hundred people in a hamlet, Tamil) about a revolutionary who is awarded the death sentence.<br />This year, there was a joint jury for the National Film Awards and the Indian Panorama, with the feature film jury chaired by K.S. Sethumadhavan.<br />Tabu, whose role in <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Maachis</span> had also won her a national award, told the press, “I feel special being given this award a second time because it is so early in my career.’’ <br />Although<span style="" font-style:="" italic=""> Lagaan</span> totted up eight awards, director Ashutosh Gowariker is still “feeling a little sad. I was looking forward to getting best film, best director or best actor,’’ he said, adding disarmingly, “But I am glad it won eight awards. There’s no end to greed.’’ <br />The film won national awards for best popular film providing wholesome entertainment, best lyrics (Javed Akhtar), best music direction (A.R. Rahman), best costumes (Bhanu Athaiya), best choreography (Raju Khan), best audiography (H. Sridhar and Nakul Kamte), best art direction (Nitin Desai) and best male playback singer Udit Narayan (Mitwa). Best female playback singer went to Sadhana Sargam for <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Udayageethavin Azhaghi.</span><br />Madhur Bhandarkar’s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Chandni Bar</span>, which poignantly portrays the vicious circle bar girls get trapped in, was judged best film on social issues, while Atul Kulkarni and Ananya Khare won the award for best supporting actor and best supporting actress.<br />Says Bhandarkar, “I’m really proud of the film and Tabu. The amazing equation we share shows in the film. The award also broadens the scope of our cinema considerably.’’ Farhan Akhtar’s<span style="" font-style:="" italic=""> Dil Chahta Hai</span> won the award for best feature film in Hindi. <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Mitr-My Friend</span> also won for best feature film in English and best editing by Beena Paul.<br />K.N.T. Sastry’s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Tiladaanam (</span>Telugu) won for best debut feature, while Jyoti Sarup’s<span style="" font-style:="" italic=""> Bub</span> (Kashmiri) won for best film on national integration. H.M. Ramachandra Halkere won best cinematographer for <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Dweepa,</span> while Neelakantha won best screenplay for<span style="" font-style:="" italic=""> Show</span> (Telugu).<br />Tellingly, no awards were given for best children’s film, films on family welfare or environment. In the nonfeature categories, Prakash Jha’s Sonal on renowned dancer Sonal Mansingh’s life got the award for best film, while Vinod Sukumaran’s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Diary of A Housewife</span> bagged the award for best first film of a director. The jury also selected 20 films for the Indian Panorama. </div> </div>