Awards for regional films an encouraging trend: President

In picture: President Pratibha Patil presenting Best Actor Award to Salim Kumar during the 58th National Film Awards Function in New Delhi on Friday.

President Pratibha Patil, who gave away the 58th National Film Awards in the capital on Friday, said it was an 'encouraging trend' that regional films scored over Bollywood this year, taking home the top honours. She was also delighted to see the growing strength of man-woman harmony as six couples walked away with the prestigious award at the event.

'We have rich and varied cultural heritage which provides significant base of telling the world the stories of India. This year, regional cinema seems to have taken maximum share of these awards and a large number of films are being made with new directors, which is an encouraging trend,' the president said while addressing the gathering at Vigyan Bhawan.

While Tamil movie Aadukalam walked away with the award in six top categories, Malayalam film Adaminte Makan Abu picked up four awards.

As many as six couples also walked away with the prestigious award, which the president said proves how spouses who work jointly achieve success.

'This draws attention to how spouses can work together professionally, and jointly achieve success. I have always said that it is essential for men and women to work together, as they are two wheels of the same chariot,' she added.

The winning spouses were Rekha-Vishal Bhardwaj for Ishqiya; Sachin-Bindiya Khanolkar for Mee Sindhutai Sapkal; Malaika-Arbaaz Khan for Dabangg; K R Manoj-Ranjini Krishnan for A Pestering Journey; Shylaja Nag-B. Suresha for Puttakkana Highway and Ananya-Manish Chakraborti for Understanding Trafficking.

Text: IANS
Images: PTI