Dadasaheb Phalke Award for Rajini

National Film Awards: Kangana Is Best Actress, Dhanush Best Actor

New Delhi: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday conferred the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award on Tamil superstar Rajinikanth and honoured a galaxy of personalities related to cinema, including Dhanush, Priyadarshan, Resul Pookutty, Manoj Bajpayee and Kangana Ranaut, with National Film Awards.

The 67th National Film awards for 2019 were announced in March this year, and were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Addressing the function finally held in a physical format after a two-year delay, Naidu said he was happy that regional films had dominated the list of award winners. He also urged filmmakers and actors to use cinema to generate “positivity and happiness”.

“Films should be vehicles with a higher purpose... We should focus on creating cinema which is entertaining, gives us solace, some message, reduces our tension and makes us think positively. Don’t be obstructive, be constructive,” he said, asking film makers to shun violence, vulgarity and obscenity.