The winners of the 71st National Film Awards, honouring the best films and cinematic achievements of the year 2023, were announced on Friday (August 1) by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B). Among the Tamil titles, Ramkumar Balakrishnan’s debut directorial, Parking, bagged three major awards, while music composer GV Prakash Kumar won the Best Music Direction award for his film Vaathi.
Parking won awards under the Best Tamil Film and Best Screenplay categories. Meanwhile, the film’s lead MS Bhaskar won the Best Actor in a Supporting Role award, an honour he shares with actor Vijayaraghavan for the Malayalam film Pookkaalam.
Also starring Harish Kalyan, Induja Ravichandran, Prathana Nathan and Rama Rajendra, Parking told an intriguing story of two tenants of a house whose egos clash over a parking spot. The film was produced under the Passion Studios and Soldiers Factory production banners.
Meanwhile, GV Prakash’s Vaathi, starring Dhanush, was one of the most popular albums of 2023. In particular, “Vaa Vaathi,” sung by Shweta Mohan and written by Dhanush, ruled the playlists of fans. Notably, this is Prakash’s second National Award; the composer won under the same category at the 68th National Film Awards for the movie Soorarai Pottru.
Post the announcement, an elated Prakash expressed his gratitude in a statement he shared on X. “A blessing for the second time. I’m truly overwhelmed and deeply grateful,” wrote Prakash, before conveying his gratitude to the jury and the team of Vaathi. “Special thanks to my brother Dhanush, who chose me for this film. Our continuous collaboration-from Polladhavan to Asuran, Vaathi, and Idly Kadai, has been creatively fulfilling and rewarding for both of us.
“A big thank you to my director Venky Atluri, who inspired me to give my best and trusted me with the music for this film. From Vaathi to Lucky Bhaskar, and now onto our next project – thank you, Venky, for the consistent trust and for bringing blockbuster moments into our journey,” added Prakash.
Coming to the non-feature film categories, Saravanamaruthu Soundarapandi and Meenakshi Soman won the National Award for Best Cinematography for the film Little Wings, directed by Naveen Mu.
Notably, Timeless Tamil Nadu, directed by Kamakhya Narayan Singh, won the Best Art/Culture Film award. The English-language documentary was produced by Celebrities Management Private Limited in collaboration with Tamil Nadu Tourism and Travel XP.