64th National Film Awards; Akshay Kumar will be awarded Rs 50,000 while Mohanlal will get Rs 2 lakhs
The 64th National Film Awards were announced today. Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar won the award for Best Actor for his work in Rustom while Malayali actress Surabhi Lakshmi was honoured with the best actress award for Minnaminungu.
Malayalam cinema won seven awards this time including the award for best actress. Mohanlal, arguably one of the best actors in the country, won the Special Jury award for his performance in Janatha Garage, Pulimurugan and Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbol.
Mohanlal’s award came in as a pleasant surprise because not many expected him to win an award this time.
The Nation’s best actor of the year, Akshay Kumar will get the Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus Award) award along with a cash prize of Rs 50,000. Interestingly, Mohanlal who won the Special Jury award will get a cash prize of Rs 2,00,000 and the Rajat Kamal award.
This year, Mohanlal was among the final three actors shortlisted for the award in the best actor category. National award jury chairman Priyadarshan said that Mohanlal was honoured with the special jury award after taking into account his performances both in Telugu and Malayalam.
This is Mohanlal’s fourth National award and second in the special jury category. His tryst with the National awards started with a special jury mention in 1989 for his performance in Kireedam. Two years later, he followed it up with his first National award for best actor for his performance in Bharatham (1991). In 1999, he won the best actor award for Vanaprastham. The movie, also produced by Mohanlal also won the honour for best film that year.
