Of the many reactions of winners of the 65th National Awards, the most poignant is that of Boney Kapoor and daughters, Janhvi and Khushi. The late Sridevi was posthumously conferred the Best Actor award for Mom and her family responded thus… “We are overjoyed to know that the Jury has conferred the Best Actor Award to Sridevi for her performance in ‘MOM’. It’s a very special moment for all of us. She was always a perfectionist and it showed in all the 300 plus films she did. She was not just a Super Actor but a Super Wife and a Super Mom. It’s time to celebrate her life and her achievements. She is not with us today but her legacy will always live on…”
Sridevi's brother-in-law and co-star Anil Kapoor also expressed his happiness on the honour bestowed on the late actress.
For Divya Dutta, who entered the film industry more than 20 years ago, her win for Irada was especially sweet. She responded, “This is my first National Award and it will take time to sink in because when I came to become an actress, this was a dream for me – To win a National Award. For some reason, everyone has always called me a National Award-winner. So, finally, that comes true. It feels really nice,” she said. She pointed out that she is glad that the film’s win will give it the publicity it deserved, even if a year after its release.
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Rajkummar Rao reacted to his film Newton winning Best Hindi Film, saying, “It's a huge achievement for all of us. Newton is such a unique and a special film for all of us. It’s a film which has been made with so much purity and honesty, without keeping any commercial aspects in mind.”
The film also bagged Pankaj Tripathi a special mention for his performance. The actor’s response was touching, as he declared, “It just made my day that such a grand jury has recognized my work. Every actor wants the National Film Award, it was always in my list. I am happy and feeling really humbled.” He also added, “I won’t do the films that won’t make sense. I will only do the films that would appeal me. I won’t get into the number game anymore. If the artist inside me would feel like doing a project then only I would do it. I am more serious about my work now.”
…And some say awards don’t mean that much??
