63rd National Awards - A rich haul for Kollywood

These are good times for Kollywood, or so it seems. There were numerous awards for the industry even as the legendary Amitabh Bachchan and Kangana Ranaut won the National Award for Best Actor and Actress respectively in the 63rd edition of the same announced in Delhi on Monday. As far as Kollywood goes, 'Visaranai', directed by Vetrimaran, won three awards - for best regional language movie, best supporting actor for Samuthirakani and best editing for the late T E Kishore. There was another honour for maestro Ilayaraja, who bagged the award for best background score for his 1000th film 'Tharai Thappattai'. Young actress Ritika Singh, who played the lead in 'Irudhi Suttru' was adjudged the best actress - special mention category. It was the fifth National award Maestro Ilayaraja who completed his 1000th film as music composer recently, added one more jewel in his crown by winning the National award for the fifth time. He won the awards before for 'Sagara Sangamam', 'Sindhu Bhairavi', 'Rudra Veenai' and 'Pazhassi Raja'. Tollywood blockbuster 'Baahubali', directed by Rajamouli, also stole the spotlight at the awards. Meanwhile, Superstar Rajinikanth has congratulated National award winners including Ilayaraja and the cast and crew of 'Visaranai.' 'It is a great honor for Tamil cinema. I wholeheartedly congratulate the national award winners including Ilaiyaraaja. They have made us proud,' he told media men at the Chennai airport.