Byari, Deool share Best Feature Film award

Regional films Byari, the first film in the Beary language spoken in coastal Kannada, and Marathi film Deool were named the Best Feature Films as the jury announced the winners at the 59th the National Film awards in New Delhi today.

Actress Vidya Balan won her first National Award for her stellar performance in the biopic of southern sex symbol Silk Smitha in 'The Dirty Picture' while acclaimed actor Girish Kulkarni won the Best Actor award for political drama Deool, which has featured in major film festivals around the world.

Chairman of the Jury Rohini Hathangady said Vidya Balan has put up a brave and effortless performance in the unofficial biopic of the southern sex siren Silk Smitha, produced by Ekta Kapoor.

Director Onir's anthology film 'I Am', a Hindi film compiling four stories on identity picked up two awards, at the 59th National Film Awards announced today. The film also won in the best lyrics category for Amitabh Bhattacharya-written 'Agar Zindagi'.

`Byari' is about how girls in the small Muslim Beary community are mistreated in the name of marriage and divorce. Through its female protagonist, director Suveeran conveys the trauma of a woman who has to deal with unjust religious strictures.

`Deool' is a satirical and penetrative account of the politics involved in the commercialisation of religion in India. Kulkarni's portrayal as a good-hearted simpleton who sets tumultuous events in motion won over the jury who described his performance as ''ingenious.''