Actress Vidya Balan won her first national award for Dirty picture.

Actress Vidya Balan won her first National Award for her stellar performance in the biopic of southern sex symbol Silk Smitha in 'The Dirty Picture' and director Onir anthology film 'I AM' compiling four stories on identity picked up two awards as the country's most prestigious film jury kept the focus on regional films at the 59th National Film Awards announced on Wednesday.

Byari, the first film in the Beary language spoken in coastal Kannada, and Marathi film Deool shared the award for Best Feature Film. Byari is about how girls in the small Muslim Beary community are mistreated in the name of marriage and divorce. Through its female protagonist director Suveeran conveys the trauma of a woman who has to deal with unjust religious strictures.

Acclaimed actor Girish Kulkarni also won the Best Actor award for political drama Deool, which has featured in the major film festivals around the world. Deool is a satirical and penetrative account of the politics involved in the commercialization of religion in India. Kulkarni's portrayal as a good-hearted simpleton who sets tumultuous events in motion won over the jury who described his performance as ingenious.

Directed by Umesh Kulkarni, 'Deool' is a wonderfully authentic depiction of village life and a penetrating account of commercialisation of religion. "It is a great moment for us as we worked hard on the film for two years. It was a closely knit team. It is very encouraging for us who want to make movies without

compromising on content. I am really happy for Girish. He is a very versatile and genuine actor," Umesh told PTI.

The winners were announced by chairpersons of the jury. The awards will be given to the winners in a ceremony on May 3. For feature films the names of the award winners were declared by actress Rohini Hattangady, who was the chairperson of the Feature Films Jury (Central Panel). Ramesh Sharma, the chairperson of the Non-Feature films jury and Vijaya Mulay, who chaired the jury on the Best Writing on Cinema announced the names of other award winners.

Traditionally, the National Awards keep the focus on regional films and the presence of Bollywood is limited to only a few select categories. This year 'I Am' won in the Best Hindi Film and Best Lyrics (Amitabh Bhattacharya) category. Director Anubhav Sinha'sRA.One won the award for Best Special Effects. Gurvinder Singh won Best Director for 'Anhe Ghorey Da Daan' (Alms of the blind horse), a low-budget Punjabi film that has won international laurels.

Appu Kutty won the Best Supporting Actor for the Tamil film 'Azhagar Samiyin Kuthirai while Leishangthem Tonthoingambi Devi won the Best Supporting Actress award for Manipuri film Phijigee Mani. The Special Jury Award went to singer/director Anjan Dutta whose film Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona won the Best Bengali film.

'Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona' that stars Dutta, Amyt Datta, Lew Hilt and Nondon Bagchi, is the story of a Bangla-band and the making of a rockstar.

Stanley ka Dabba's Partho Gupte, the son of director Amol Gupte, and the cast of the film Chillar Party won the Best Child Artist award while the Best Children's Film went to Chillar Party. Another Bollywood win was the Best costume award for Neeta Lulla for the film ‘Bal Gandharva’ (Marathi) and Niharika Khan for ‘The Dirty Picture’ (Hindi). The Best Female Playback Singer went to Roopa Ganguly for Bengali film Abosheshey and the Best Male Playback Singer to Anand Bhate for Marathi film Bal Gandharva.

The Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment went to Tamil film Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai. Last year Salman Khan's cop romp Dabangg had won in this category. Director Zoya Akhtar's 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' won the Best Audiography and Best Choreography awards. Neel Dutt won the Best Music Direction award for Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona while Mayookh Bhaumik won Best Background Score for Bengali film Laptop.

The National Film Awards, which were started as an annual incentive by the Government of India , for the making of artistic, competent and meaningful films have come a long way, to cover the entire national spectrum of Indian Cinema, to judge merit by the highest possible yardstick and to become the most coveted and prestigious award in the country.

Here is a list of the winners:

Feature Films

Best Feature Film: Shared by Deool (Marathi) and Byari (Byari)

Deool

Producer: Abhijeet Gholap

Director : Umesh VinayakKulkarni

Byari (Byari)

Producer: T.H. AlthafHussain

Director :Suveeran

SwarnaKamal: Rs.2,50,000/-

Indira Gandhi Award For Best Debut Film of a Director: Aaranyakandam (Tamil)

Producer:S.P.Charan

Director :Kumararaja Thiagarajan

SwarnaKamal: Rs.1,25,000/

Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment:AzhagarsamiyinKuthirai (Tamil)

Producer: P. Madan

Director :Suseentharan

SwarnaKamal: Rs.2,00,000/-

Best Children’s Film: Chillar Party(Hindi)

Producer: UTV Software Communications Ltd

Director : VikasBahl & Nitesh Tiwari

SwarnaKamal: Rs.1,50,000/-

Best Direction: GurvinderSingh for Anhe Ghorey Da Daan (Punjabi)

SwarnaKamal: Rs. 2,50,000/-

Best Actor: Girish Kulkarni for Deool (Marathi)

Rajat Kamal: Rs. 50,000/-

Best Actress: Vidya Balan for The Dirty Picture (Hindi)

Rajat Kamal: Rs. 50,000/-

Best Supporting Actress: Leishangthem Tonthoingambi Devi for Phijigee Mani(Manipuri)

Rajat Kamal: Rs.50,000/-

Best Supporting Actor: Appu Kutty for Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai (Tamil)

Rajat Kamal: Rs. 50,000/-

Best Child Artist (Shared): Partho Gupte for Stanley ka Dabba (Hindi)

Irrfan Khan, Sanath Menon, Rohan Grover, Naman Jain, Aarav Khanna, Vishesh Tiwari, ChinmaiChandranshuh, Vedant Desai, Divij Handa and Shriya Sharma for Chillar Party(Hindi)

Rajat Kamal: Rs.50,000/-

Best Male Playback Singer: Anand Bhate for Balgandharva(Marathi)

Rajat Kamal: Rs.50,000/-

Best Female Playback Singer: RoopaGanguly for Abosheyshey (Bengali)

Rajat Kamal: Rs. 50,000/-

Best Cinematography: Anhe Ghorey DaDaan (Punjabi)

Cameraman: Satya RaiNagpaul

Laboratory: Reliance Media Works

Rajat Kamal: Rs.50,000/-

Best Screenplay

Screenplay Writer (Original): Vikas Behl & Manish Tiwari for Chillar Party(Hindi)

Rajat Kamal: Rs.50,000/-

Screenplay Writer (Adapted): Avinash Deshpande Nigdi for Shala (Marathi)

Rajat Kamal: Rs.50,000/-

Dialogues: Girish Kulkarni for Deool (Marathi)

Rajat Kamal: Rs.50,000/-

Best Audiography

Location Sound Recordist: Baylon Fonseca for Zindagi NaMilegi Dobara (Hindi)

Rajat Kamal: Rs.50,000/-

Sound Designer: Baylon Fonseca for Game (Hindi)

Rajat Kamal: Rs.50,000/-

Re-recordist of the final mixed track: Hitendra Ghosh for Game (Hindi)

Rajat Kamal: Rs.50,000/-

Best Editing: Pravin KL for Aaranyakandam (Tamil)

Rajat Kamal: Rs. 50,000/-

Best Production Design: Indraneel Ghosh for Naukadubi (Bengali)

Rajat Kamal: Rs. 50,000/-

Best Costume Designer (Shared): Neeta Lulla for Balgandharva (Marathi)

Niharika Khan: The Dirty Picture (Hindi)

Rajat Kamal: Rs. 50,000/-

Best Make-Up Artist: VikramGayakwad for Balgandharva (Marathi) and The Dirty Picture (Hindi)

Rajat Kamal: Rs. 50,000/-

Best Music Direction

Songs: Neel Dutt for Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbo Na (Bengali)

Rajat Kamal: Rs. 50,000/-

Background Score: Mayookh Bhaumik for Laptop (Bengali)

Rajat Kamal: Rs. 50,000/-

Best Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya for ‘Agar Zindagi’ in I AM (Hindi)

Special Jury Award: Anjan Dutt for Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbo Na (Bengali)

Rajat Kamal: Rs. 50,000/-

Best Special Effects: Harry Hingorani and Keitan Yadav for Ra. One (Hindi)

Rajat Kamal: Rs. 50,000/-

Best Choreography: Bosco and Caeser for ‘Senorita’ from Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (Hindi)

Rajat Kamal: Rs. 50,000/-

Best Feature Film In Each Of The Language Specified In The Schedule Viii Of The Constitution

Best Bengali Film: Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbo Na

Producer: Rana Sarkar

Director : AnjanDutt

Rajat Kamal: Rs.1,00,000/-

Best Dogri Film: Dille Ch Vasya Koi

Producer: Sanjeev Rattan

Director: Sanjeev Rattan

Rajat Kamal: Rs.1,00,000/-

Best Hindi Film: I AM

Producer: Anirban Dhar (Onir) & Sanjay Suri

Director : Onir

Rajat Kamal: Rs.1,00,000/-

Best Kannada film: Kurmavatara

Producer: Basant Kumar Patil

Director : Girish Kasaravalli

Rajat Kamal: Rs.1,00,000/-

Best Malayalam Film: Indian Rupee

Producer: August CinemaIndia Pvt. Ltd.

Director :RanjithBalakrishnan

Rajat Kamal: Rs.1,00,000/-

Best Manipuri Film: Phijigee Mani

Producer:Takhelchangbam Ongbi and Medha Sharmi

Director :Oinam GautamSingh

Rajat Kamal: Rs.1,00,000/-

Best Marathi Film: Shala

Producer: Vivek D. Wagh & NileshNavalkha

Director: Sujay SunilDahake

Rajat Kamal: Rs.1,00,000/-

Best Punjabi Film: Anhe Ghorey Da Daan

Producer: National Film Development Corporation

Director : Gurvinder Singh

Rajat Kamal: Rs.1,00,000/-

Best Tamil Film: Vaagai Sooda Va

Producer: S. Muruganandham

Director : A. Sargunam

Rajat Kamal: Rs.1,00,000/-

Special Mention

Byari (Byari): Mallika

Certificate only

Adimadhyantham( Malayalam)

Director : Sherry

Certificate only

Non-Feature Films

Best Non Feature Film: And We Play On (Hindi & English)

Producer: PramodPuRs.wane

Director: Pramod PuRs.wane

Swarna Kamal: Rs.1,50,000/- each

Best Debut Film Of A Director: The Silent Poet (Manipuri)

Producer: BorunThokchom

Director: Borun Thokchom

Rajat Kamal: Rs.75,000/- each

Best Anthropological/ Ethnographic Film: Bom (Hindi & English)

Producer: Anirban Datta

Director: Amlan Datta

Rajat Kamal: Rs.50,000/- each

Best Biographical/ Historical Reconstruction: Vishnupant Damle: BolpatanchaMook Nayak (Marathi)

Producer: Anil Anant Damle

Director :Virendra Valsangkar

Rajat Kamal: Rs.50,000/- each

Best Arts /Cultural Film (Jointly Being given to two Films): Fried Fish, Chicken Soup and a Premiere Show (Manipuri & English)

Producer: Madhusree Dutta

Director: Mamta Murthy

Lasya Kavvya – the World ofAlarmel Valli (English)

Producer: Sankalp Meshram

Director: SankalpMeshram

Rajat Kamal: Rs.25,000/- each

Best Promotional Film: The Dream Fulfilled - Memories of the Engineering Challenges (English)

Producer: Delhi Metro Rail Corporation

Director: Satish Pande

Rajat Kamal: Rs.50,000/- each

Best Environment Film: Tiger Dynasty (English)

Producer: S.Nallamuthu

Director: S. Nallamuthu

Rajat Kamal: Rs.50,000/- each

Best Film On Social Issues (Jointly Being given to two Films):

Mindscapes… of Love and Longing (Hindi & English)

Producer: Public Service Broadcasting Trust

Director: Arun Chadha

Inshallah, Football (Kashmiri, Urdu & English)

Producer: Ashvin Kumar

Director: Ashvin Kuma

Rajat Kamal: Rs.25,000/- each

Best Educational Film: A Drop of Sunshine (English)

Producer: Public Service Broadcasting Trust

Director: Aparna Sanyal

Rajat Kamal: Rs.50,000/- each

Best Exploration/ Adventure Film (Including sports): The Finish Line (English)

Producer: Syed Sultan Ahmed & Tabassum Modi

Director: Akshay Roy

Rajat Kamal: Rs.50,000/- each

Best Investigative Film: Cotton for My Shroud (English)

Producer: Kavita Bahl

Director: Nandan Saxena and Kavita Bahl

Rajat Kamal: Rs.50,000/- each

Special Jury Award: Anand Patwardhan for Jai BhimComrade (Marathi)

Rajat Kamal: Rs. 1,00,000/-

Best Film Critic: Manoj Barpujari (Assamese and English)

Best Book on Cinema: R.D. Burman The Man, The Music (English)

Publisher: Harper Collins India

Author: Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Balaji Vittal

Swarna Kamal: Rs. 75,000 (With additional inputs from PTI)