CHENNAI: South Indian cinema emerged as one of the biggest winners at the 72nd National Film Awards, with Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films from the year 2024 bagging honours across several major categories for films such as 'Amaran', 'Captain Miller', 'Raayan', 'Maharaja', 'Bramayugam' and 'Kalki 2898 AD', recognising outstanding performances, technical excellence and compelling storytelling.

Multiple National Award winner Dhanush had a memorable outing, with his directorial 'Raayan', in which he also played the lead, winning Best Tamil Film, while 'Captain Miller', also headlined by the actor, earned two honours.

Sivakarthikeyan's 'Amaran' emerged as one of the biggest Tamil winners with three awards, while Allu Arjun's 'Pushpa: The Rule – Part 2' picked up multiple honours in the screenplay and costume design categories.

Tamil winners

• Best Tamil Film: 'Raayan', the gritty North Chennai-based neo-noir revenge drama written, directed by and starring Dhanush.

• Best Director: Rajkumar Periasamy for 'Amaran', the Sivakarthikeyan-starrer biographical war drama based on the life of Major Mukund Varadarajan.

• Best Editing: K Kalaivanan for 'Amaran'.

• Best Music Direction: GV Prakash Kumar for 'Amaran'.

• Best Action Direction: Anl Arasu for 'Maharaja'. The Vijay Sethupathi-led revenge thriller was praised for its realistic action sequences.

• Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social and Environmental Values: 'Captain Miller', directed by Arun Matheswaran and starring Dhanush. The period action drama explores themes of oppression, freedom and social justice.

• Special Mention (Actor): Dhanush for 'Captain Miller'.

• Special Mention (Sound Mixing): 'Meiyazhagan', the emotional bromance drama starring Karthi and Arvind Swamy, directed by C Prem Kumar.

• Best Supporting Actress: Sachana Namidass (Maharaja)

• NON-FEATURE FILMS category - Best Sound Design (Tamil): 'Blue' / Sound Designer: TS Hari Hara Sudhan

South Indian winners

Malayalam

• Best Malayalam Film: 'Feminichi Fathima', a satirical drama that examines the complex social and patriarchal barriers encountered by women; written and directed by Fasil Muhammed.

• Best Actor: Mammootty for 'Bramayugam', a critically acclaimed black-and-white horror thriller directed by Rahul Sadasivan.

• Best Cinematography: Shehnad Jalal for 'Bramayugam'.

• Best Female Playback Singer: Vaikom Vijayalakshmi for 'Angu Vaana Konilu' from Tovino Thomas-starrer 'ARM'.

Telugu

• Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: 'Kalki 2898 AD', directed by Nag Ashwin and produced by Vyjayanthi Movies. The sci-fi epic stars Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Kamal Haasan.

• Best Telugu Film: 'Committee Kurrollu', a coming-of-age rural drama, written and directed by debutant Yadhu Vamsi.

• Best Production Design: Nitin Zihani Choudhary for 'Kalki 2898 AD'.

• Best Original Screenplay: Bandreddi Sukumar for 'Pushpa: The Rule – Part 2'; sequel story of red sandalwood smuggler Pushpa Raj (Allu Arjun).

• Best Costume Design: Deepali Noor and Sheetal Sharma for 'Pushpa: The Rule – Part 2'.

• Best Screenplay (Dialogue): Venky Atluri for 'Lucky Bhaskar', starring Dulquer Salmaan, as a bank cashier who is drawn into the world of financial fraud.

• Best Children's Film: '35 Chinna Katha Kaadu': An 11-year-old's questions about mathematics lead to life lessons from his school dropout mother. Starring Nivetha Thomas and Priyadarshi Pulikonda; directed by Nanda Kishore Emani.

Kannada

• Best Kannada Film: 'Mithya', a coming-of-age trauma narrative directed by debutant Sumanth Bhat and produced by Rakshit Shetty.

• Film Literature: The Best Book on Cinema award went to Kenchanuru Pradeep Kumar Shetty for his philosophical and political study of Kannada cinema.