Captain Miller, Amaran, Maharaja and Raayan shine at 72nd National Film Awards

CHENNAI: Tamil cinema put up a strong showing at the 72nd National Film Awards, with Captain Miller, Amaran, Maharaja, Raayan, and Meiyazhagan emerging among the major winners across feature film and technical categories.

Arun Matheswaran's Captain Miller won the Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social and Environmental Values, while actor Dhanush received a special Mention for his performance in the film.

Speaking to DT Next, director Arun Matheswaran said, "I am doing the post production work for my next film DC and this feels overwhelming. I never knew that the film won the National Award for Best Film Promoting National, Social and Environmental Values. We make a film believing that it would reach a larger audience upon its release. But Captain Miller didn't commercially go the way we wanted it to be when it released. But the recognition we have been receiving now shows that the effort is totally worth it. Also, congratulations to Dhanush sir because he put in a lot of effort for this movie."

Rajkumar Periasamy was named Best Director for Amaran, which also bagged the award for Best Background Score, with GV Prakash Kumar taking home the honour for his music. The film further won Best Editing, shared by R. Kalaivanan.

Reacting to the recognition, GV Prakash Kumar told DT Next, "I was just informed on my third National award by everyone over phone and this feels surreal. Amaran deserves it and it feels deserving for Amaran because the film in a way gave me everything. I can't be happier than this."

Director Rajkumar Periasamy also shared his excitement with DT Next, saying, "We submitted the film for awards last year and we were told that it would be announced next year. After a few delays we stopped following it and when the announcement was made today the entire team feels happy about it. We are happy."

Maharaja added to Tamil cinema's tally with Sachana Namidass winning Best Supporting Actress, while Anal Arasu was honoured with Best Action Direction for the film.

Dhanush's directorial venture Raayan was announced as the Best Tamil Film, while Meiyazhagan received a Special Mention for Sound Mixing.

Tamil winners at the 72nd National Film Awards

Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social and Environmental Values - Captain Miller

Special Mention (Actor): Dhanush (Captain Miller)

Best Director: Rajkumar Periasamy (Amaran)

Best Supporting Actress:Sachana Namidass (Maharaja)

Best Editing: R. Kalaivanan (Amaran)

Best Tamil Film:Raayan

Best Background Score: GV Prakash Kumar (Amaran)

Best Action Direction: Anal Arasu (Maharaja)

Special Mention (Sound Mixing):Meiyazhagan