The 61st National Film
Awards function will be held on 3rd May at Vigyan Bhawan. The awards
will be given away by the Hon’ble President of India. Minister of Information
& Broadcasting, Shri Manish Tewari will also be present on the occasion.
The highlights of the
61st National Film Awards are as follows:
·
The
Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2013 will be conferred on Gulzar, the
veteran film lyricist, director, screen writer, producer and poet. He is the
45th Dada Saheb Phalke Award Winner. The award is conferred by the Government
of India for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian
Cinema. The award consists of a Swarn Kamal (Golden Lotus), a cash prize of
Rs.10 lakhs and a shawl. The award is given on the basis of recommendations of
a Committee of eminent persons set up by the Government for this purpose. This
year, a seven member jury consisting of eminent artists, after due
deliberations, unanimously recommended Sh. Gulzar for the prestigious award.
·
A
total of 41 awards are to be given by the President in the Non-Feature film
category while the number of awards in Feature Film category being 40. Three
awards are to be given to Best Writing on Cinema.
·
Live
performances by Shri Rupankar and Ms.Bela Shinde who bagged the Best Male
Playback Singer and Best Female Playback Singer awards respectively will also be
a part of the awards ceremony.
·
For
the Category of Best Feature Film, ‘Ship of Theseus (English-Hindi) film
Produced by Recyclewala Films Pvt Ltd, and directed by Anand Gandhi has been
given the Swarn Kamal and Rs.2,50,000/- each.
·
Indira
Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director has been given to ‘Fandry
(Marathi)’ Directed by Nagraj Manjule, Produced by Navalkha Arts and Holy Basil
Combine, who have been given Swarn Kamal and Rs.1,25,000/- each.
·
The
award for Best Popular Film providing Wholesome Entertainment has been given to
‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (Hindi)’ produced by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and ROMP
Pictures, Directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra.
·
The
Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration has been given
to ‘Thalaimuraigal(Tamil)’ produced by Company Productions and directed by Balu
Mahendra.
·
The
Award for the Best Hindi Film has been given to ‘Jolly LLB’ produced by Fox
Star Studios and directed by Subhash Kapoor.
CP/GV