New Delhi: Tamil cinema emerged as one of the biggest winners at the 72nd National Film Awards, announced on July 18, with Raayan and Amaran securing multiple honours. The awards recognised films certified by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) during the 2024 calendar year, celebrating excellence in feature films, non-feature films and writing on cinema across Indian languages.
Actor-director Dhanush, filmmaker Rajkumar Periasamy, composer GV Prakash Kumar, editor R Kalaivannan, and several Tamil artistes and technicians were among those honoured.
Raayan wins Best Tamil Film
Dhanush’s directorial venture Raayan won the Best Tamil Film award at this year’s National Film Awards.
Produced by Sun Pictures, the neo-noir revenge drama is set in Chennai and features SJ Suryah, Sundeep Kishan, Dushara Vijayan and Kalidas Jayaram in prominent roles.
In addition to the film’s success, Dhanush received a Special Mention for his performance in the period action drama Captain Miller.
The Arun Matheswaran directorial also won the Best Film Promoting National, Social and Environmental Values, adding another major honour to Tamil cinema’s tally.
Amaran bags multiple awards
One of the biggest Tamil blockbusters of 2024, Amaran, secured several prestigious awards.
Director Rajkumar Periasamy won the Best Direction award for the film, while R Kalaivannan was honoured with the Best Editing award.
Music composer GV Prakash Kumar received his third National Film Award for the film’s music, sharing the honour with Hindi composer Shaswat Sachdeva, who won for Article 370.
The film starred Sivakarthikeyan as Major Mukund Varadarajan and Sai Pallavi as Indhu Rebecca Varghese.
Based on the life of the decorated Indian Army officer, Amaran narrates the story of Major Mukund Varadarajan of the Rajput Regiment, who was martyred during a counter-terrorism operation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Other Tamil winners
Although critically acclaimed Tamil films such as Meiyazhagan, Vaazhai, Kottukkaali, Thangalaan and Maharaja were expected to perform strongly, they secured only a few honours.
Meiyazhagan earned a Special Mention for sound designer Suren G.
Action choreographer Anal Arasu won the Best Action Choreography award for Maharaja.
Actor Sachana Namidass received the Best Supporting Actor award for her performance as Jothi in Maharaja. She shared the honour with Kannada actor Ropashree Varkady, who was recognised for Mithya.
Recognition in non-feature category
Tamil cinema also received recognition in the non-feature film section.
TS Hari Hara Sudhan won the Best Sound Design award for the documentary film Blue, highlighting Tamil representation beyond mainstream feature films.
Celebrating cinematic excellence
The 72nd National Film Awards recognise outstanding achievements in Indian cinema across feature films, non-feature films and writing on cinema.
This year’s awards once again highlighted the strength of Tamil cinema, with filmmakers, actors and technicians receiving recognition across multiple categories for their contributions to Indian filmmaking.