Kollywood shines as ‘Parking’ and GV Prakash bag National Awards
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting announced the winners of the prestigious 71st National Film Awards, celebrating the best of Indian cinema from the year 2023.
While the awards recognized excellence across various languages and categories, Kollywood made a significant mark, with the film Parking and music director GV Prakash Kumar emerging as prominent winners.
Ramkumar Balakrishnan’s debut directorial, Parking, starring Harish Kalyan and MS Bhaskar, was a standout from Tamil cinema, clinching an impressive three awards.
The film was honored with the Best Regional Film in Tamil award, a testament to its compelling narrative.
Furthermore, Parking shared the Best Screenplay Award with the Telugu film Baby, recognizing its well-crafted script. Veteran actor MS Bhaskar received the Best Supporting Male Actor award for his layered performance in Parking, an honor he shares with Vijayaraghavan for the Malayalam film Pookkaalam.
Adding to Kollywood’s pride, acclaimed music director GV Prakash Kumar bagged the Best Music Direction award for the songs in Dhanush starrer Vaathi.
This marks Prakash’s second National Award in the same category, following his win for Soorarai Pottru at the 68th National Film Awards. His work in Vaathi, particularly the popular track “Vaa Vaathi,” resonated widely with audiences.
In the non-feature film categories, Tamil cinema also saw recognition. Saravanamaruthu Soundarapandi and Meenakshi Soman won the National Award for Best Cinematography for the film Little Wings.
Additionally, Timeless Tamil Nadu, an English-language documentary directed by Kamakhya Narayan Singh and produced in collaboration with Tamil Nadu Tourism, secured the Best Art/Culture Film award.