Kannada films bag three awards

Jan. 23: Bollywood struck gold at the 56th National Film Awards on Saturday with Fashion and Rock On bagging top honours while Bengali movie Antaheen scored with the best film award for 2008.

Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra won the Best Actress for Fashion and Marathi actor Upendra Limaye won Best Actor for Jogva.

Three awards in different categories were bagged by Kannada films. Abhay Simha’s directorial debut Gubbachigalu bagged the Best Children Film award. The movie was about how the sparrows are becoming extinct in today’s world. Anu Prabhakar, Rajesh and Baby Prakriti are in the cast.

The Best Regional Film in Kannada was bagged by Vimukthi by P. Sheshadri. Shivadwaj’s Gaggara, a Tulu movie, also won in the Best Regional Film category. Abhay Simha is a graduate from Film and Television Institute of India.

P. Sheshadri was ecstatic about his win: “The award is more like a tonic, which will encourage me to do quality work.” The story revolves around Mukti Bhavan in Varanasi, where people go to conquer death.