Akshay, Sonam On What It Feels Like to Win the National Award

Sonam Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Ram Madhvani, Shoojit Sircar and more are thrilled and here’s what they had to say.

Sonam Kapoor shares a picture with Akshay Kumar reacting to their National Award win. (Photo courtesy: Instagram/SonamKapoor)

The 64th National Awards was announced on Friday morning, while regional cinema dominated the wins, Akshay Kumar’s big win for Rustom (and Airlift) oddly stood out.

Here’s what a few winners had to say about being selected for the National honour:

Akshay Kumar

And this is how the proud wifey, Twinkle Khanna responded!

Shoojit Sircar

Shoojit Sircar’s film Pink won the National Award for Best Film on social issues. (Photo courtesy: Twitter/Shoojit Sircar)

I would like to humbly thank my entire team for this huge honour. <i>Pink</i> would not have been possible without Mr Amitabh Bachchan and his support and I would like to also thank my friend and producer Ronnie Lahiri, director Aniruddha, my writer Ritesh Shah and my lovely cast and crew for coming together with me. I would also like to thank the National Award jury for bestowing one of the most respectable laurels on us, and I feel more responsible now to persevere ahead with the film and its cause. I will not celebrate this Award in the usual manner but will dedicate it to taking <i>Pink</i> to larger audiences.

Shoojit Sircar, Producer

Ajay Devgn

Ajay Devgn’s film titled Shivaay won the award for Best Special Effects. (Photo courtesy: Twitter/ShaitanMeena12)

I feel delighted that the prestigious 64th National Award for Best Visual Effects has been awarded to our very own Naveen Paul of NY VFXWALA for our film <i>Shivaay</i>. Many congratulations to Naveen and the entire team of NY VFXWALA. I’m thankful to the honourable jury but I have to say that I am not at all surprised by their decision. This indeed is a well deserved win.

Ajay Devgn, Actor, Producer and Director of <i>Shivaay </i>

Ram Madhvani

Madhvani’s film titled Neerja won the award for Best Film and Sonam Kapoor got a special mention. (Photo courtesy: Twitter/MovifiedBolly)

This is huge. It can’t get better than this. I am at a detoxing retreat in Dehradun and suddenly I saw 100 SMS’s and 89 missed calls and I was shocked. Then, my son told me and I felt so relieved that it wasn’t a crisis. I did not see it coming and neither did I think about it. I didn’t know it was going to be announced. I am happy it came as a surprise. More than anything else, this goes out to the Bhanot family and I’d like to acknowledge them. Thank you so much.

Ram Madhvani, Director, <i>Neerja</i>

Sonam Kapoor