Queen and Mary Kom reflect the triumph of women-centric films, says I&B minister

The National Film Awards in the capital honoured the best filmi talents in the country. Highlights from the coverage:
Standing ovation for Shashi Kapoor
Shashi Kapoor was conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, but the actor couldn’t make it to the ceremony due to his frail health. It was said that the award would be handed over to him in Mumbai in a few days’ time. As soon as the star’s name was announced, everyone in the auditorium stood up.An AV (audio visual presentation), which had a voice-over by Ranbir Kapoor, began to play that show Amitabh Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Rishi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor and his son Kunal Kapoor talk about him. As soon as Shashi’s famous ‘mere paas maa hai’ dialogue was played, the entire auditorium came alive with applause.
READ: Kangana Ranaut, Vijay celebrate their success in Delhi
Government keen on strengthening the film industry
Bimal Julka, secretary of the ministry of Information and Broadcasting, said, “It is a celebration of excellence in cinema – feature films, non-feature films and writing on cinema. The greatest achievement of Indian cinema is that there are far more excellent films than the awards can honour. Films are both an art and industrial products. The projects and initiatives by the Government of India seek to nurture and promote both these dimensions.
The first phase of the Nation Museum of Indian Cinema, which has been set up to commemorate the centenary of the first Indian feature film Raja Harishchandra, made in 1913 by Dada Saheb Phalke, is now ready at the historic Gulshan Mahal in Mumbai. The museum will take visitors through an absorbing journey of Indian cinema in a storytelling manner. We are working on the National Heritage Mission, which seeks to protect, restore and preserve our film heritage, using the best technology. We are working towards the new Cinematographic Act that will take into account the contemporary realities and concerns of our film industry.”

(L-R) Arun Jaitley, President Pranab Mukherjee and Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore
Arun Jaitley, minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information and Broadcasting, said, “Changing social mores and aspirations also found their voice in this medium. We witnessed the triumph of the liberation and empowerment of women-centric themes. The success of movies such as Queen and Mary Kom are testimony to this.
The government is committed to taking all possible measures towards the overall growth of the film industry – towards it spreading evenly across the country and not being restricted to certain pockets. Keeping this approach in mind, the government is keen to set up a Film & Television Institute in the northeastern region for the benefit of its young, creative minds.”
And the winners are...

Sukhwinder Singh
The ceremony saw performances from Sukhwinder Singh and 10-year-old Uthara Unnikrishan, who walked away with the awards for the best playback singer in the male and female categories. Sukhwinder performed Bismil from Haider. He referred to Bismil as an Indian ballet and said that it was quite difficult for him to sing the song. “It’s a fantabulous and different kind of content. Gulzar saab writes so well and it’s always interesting to work with him (sic).”
Kangana Ranaut, who won the best actress award for Queen, was dressed in a gown with a long cape and left immediately after taking her award. Her parents were among the audience and were quite happy to see their daughter winning the award. Before entering the auditorium, Kangana said, “My entire team of Queen is here. We are going to have a huge celebration in Mumbai. It was quite unexpected.” Tripta Lakhanpal, who played Kangana’s dadi in Queen, was also present and hugged the actress after she received the award.
Dolly Ahluwalia, who won the award for best costumes in Haider, said, “I wanted to do justice to Vishal’s vision and present Shraddha as Kashmir ki kali. Everyone loved the clothes and I even got some stitched for myself.” Vikas Bahl, the director of Queen, said, “The film now belongs to the people. I talk about it as if it has been made by someone else. It has been loved by everyone so much.”
For latest Bollywood updates follow us on Twitter@TOIEntertain
For the latest in Bollywood news, like us on FacebookTOIEntertain
Listen to Sukhwinder Singh songs on Gaana.com
WATCH: Deepika Padukone Kangana Ranaut talk and make up