69th National Film Awards 2023: Alia Bhatt, Kriti Sanon, Allu Arjun Receive their Awards

The 69th National Film Awards which were announced in August were presented to the celebrities whose names were announced a month ago. The ceremony was held in New Delhi's Vigyan Bhawan today and the awards were presented by President Droupadi Murmu. The winners of the National Awards for the year 2021, include Allu Arjun (Best Actor), Alia Bhatt and Kriti Sanon (Best Actress) and the teams of the films RRR (2022), Sardar Udham (2022), Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022), all of which won more than one award. Rocketry: The Nambi Effect (2022) won Best Feature Film. The Dada Saheb Phalke Award, India's highest film honour, went to legendary actress Waheeda Rehman.

Bhatt who was accompanied by Ranbir Kapoor said on the red carpet, "The only word on my forehead today is gratitude." Alia, who was awarded for her performance in and as Gangubai Kathiawadi, described her National Award win as a "pinch me moment."

Sanon shared the Best Actress award with Bhatt for her performance in the film Mimi (2021), in which she played a surrogate mother. She said on the red carpet that she felt "blessed and fortunate" to have been able to play such a layered role and that "it felt right" even before she began filming.

Arjun, who received the Best Actor award for Pushpa: The Rise (2021), said on the red carpet that winning for a commercial film was a "double achievement." Allu Arjun, one of Telugu cinema's biggest stars, played the titular gangster in Pushpa: The Rise and will reprise the role in the sequel Pushpa: The Rule.

Madhavan collected the Best Feature Film for Rocketry: The Nambi Effect which he directed. "My God, it's been worth it," he said on the red carpet.