Why Akshay Kumar got National award and not Aamir Khan? Read

Mumbai: Amid the mixed reactions on social media after Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar being given Best Actor award for Rustom at the 64th National Film Awards, Chairperson of the National Awards Jury Priyadarshan has come explaining why former deserves the honour more than Aamir Khan.

The social media seems to be divided with few section of people questioning snub of Aamir Khan for ‘Dangal’ while others supporting Khiladi Kumar.

In an interview to a leading newspaper, Priyadarshan said Aamir won the National award for ‘Taare Zameen Par’ in 2007 but he did not find it important to mark his presence in the ceremony. He said that it was a clear insult to the government.

“He was given the National award for Taare Zameen Par (2007) but he didn’t attend the ceremony. It would be insulting to the government and to the National awards if we honour an actor who doesn’t wish to turn up to receive the honour. And we are honouring an actor who is every bit as meritorious,” said 60-year old filmmaker.

People are also wondering about Akshay being given the award for 'Rustom' instead of 'Airlift'. When Priyadarshan was asked about the same, he said, "The award is for both Airlift and Rustom. For technical reasons, we could only mention one film in the list of winners."

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It may be mentioned here that both Akki and Priyadarshan have collaborated in several projects like 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa', 'Hera Pheri', 'De Dana Dan' and more.

Visit next slide for the complete list of National awards:

Best Actor – Akshay Kumar (Rustom)

Best Actress – Surabhi Lakshmi (Minnaminungu)

Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment – Sathamanam Bhavathi

Best stunt choreography – Peter Hein (Pulimurugan)

Best Children’s Film – Dhanak (Hindi)

Best Film on social issue – Pink

Best Direction – Rajesh (Ventilator)

Best Supporting Actress – Zaira Wasim (Dangal)

Best Child Artist – Adhish Praveen (Kunju Daivam), Saj (Noor Islam), Manohara (Railway Children)

Best Male Playback Singer – Sundara Iyer (Joker)

Best Female Playback Singer – Thume jaake

Best Screenplay (original) – Syam Pushkaran (Maheshinte Prathikaram)

Best Screenplay (adapted) – Sanjay Krishnaji patel (Dashakriya)

Best Editing – Rameshwar Ventilator

Sound designer – Jayadevan (Kaadu Pookunna Neram)

Best production design – 24

Best Costume Designer – Sachin (Marathi film)

Best Environmental film including agriculture – The Tiger who crossed the line

Best Makeup Artist – MK Ramakrishna

Best Music Direction – Babu Padmanabha (Kannada Lama)

Special Mention – Kadvi Hawa Mukthi bhava (Hindi)

Best feature films in regional languages

• Neerja (Hindi)
• Madipur (Tulu)
• Joker (Tamil)
• Wrongside Raju (Gujarati)
• Pelli Chupulu (Telugu)
• Dashakriya (Marathi)
• Bisarjan’ (Bengali)
• Maheshinte Prathikaram (Malayalam)
• Ke Sara Sara (Konkani)
• Reservation (Kannada)