Rani Mukerji, Prakash Raj win V Shantaram awards

Mumbai: Rani Mukerji and Prakash Raj won the V Shantaram awards for best actress and best actor for `Dil Bole Haddipa` and `Kanchivaram` respectively. The awards were presented last night in the presence of yesteryears actress Sandhya who made a public appearance after several years to commemorate the 50th year of her musical hit "Navrang" and was felicitated on the occasion.

National award winning "Kanchivaram" depicting the story of a silk weaver received the best film Gold award and Priyadarshan bagged the Best director Gold prize for the same movie. Rani Mukerji said "Dil Bole Haddipa" was close to her heart because she had worked hard portraying a cricket crazy sikh boy and also learnt the sport. Marathi film "Gabhricha Paus" and its director Satish Manwar bagged the Silver award for Best film and director. Saif Ali Khan`s debut production `Love Aaj kal` received the Bronze award for best film and director. Priyadarshan said in the last 27 years of his career, he is presently working on his 80th movie and it was the first time that he had bagged the best director award. Similarly, he said "Kanchivaram" was his first co-production and the film had won the National award for Best film. Nandita Das was the recipient of the Best debut director for "Firaaq". Anushka Sharma (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi) and Irfan Khan (New York) received the best debut artiste in lead role and best supporting actor awards respectively. Renuka Shahane received the best supporting actress for Marathi film `Rita` which is also her directorial debut. Aditya Chopra and Sandeep Srivastava received the best story and screenplay award for `New York`, while Pritam bagged the best music score award for `Love Aaj Kal` beating A R Rahman (Delhi 6) and Vishal Bharadwaj (Kaminey). `Kanchivaram` also bagged best cinematography award. `Love Aaj Kal` got Best editing trophy while `Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi` got Best sound and best choreography prizes. PTI