The 70th annual National Film Awards for films released in 2022 were announced on Friday, August 16. In the Feature Films section, Nithya Menen and Manasi Parekh have tied for Best Actress in a Leading Role Award. While Nithya has won for Thiruchitrambalam (Tamil), Manasi has bagged the award for Kutch Express (Gujarati).
Thiruchitrambalam, which came out in August 2022, emerged as a sleeper hit at the box office, garnering immense praise for actors Manasi Parekh and Dhanush. Made on a mere budget of Rs 30 crore, it performed exceptionally well and entered the Rs 100 crore club worldwide.
Directed by Mithran Jawahar, the family entertainer features Dhanush and Nithya as best friends Thiru and Shobana. Thiru, who is a delivery boy, shares a good rapport with his grandfather (Bharathiraja) but happens to struggle to bond with his father (Prakash Raj), who is a police officer. The upbeat tale came as a fresh breath of air and left quite an impression among viewers.
Recently, Nithya Menen also won the Best Actress Award (Critics) for the film at the Filmfare South Awards. “No achievement has ever been one person’s alone. This one is for everyone who contributed their spoon of sparkle to the magic of Thiruchitrambalam, and everyone who showered their love for Shobana Grateful to be the face of that sparkle,” Nithya Menen expressed.
Manasi Parekh’s Kutch Express, which was released on January 6, 2022, also starred Ratna Pathan Shah and Darsheel Safari. Manasi was not only the lead in Kutch Express but also produced the film. The film follows a woman finding her empowerment after discovering that her husband has been cheating on her. In an exclusive conversation with News18 Showsha last year, Manasi spoke about how Gujarati cinema should attempt to gain more popularity in the mainstream.
“I think to gain more popularity, Gujarati cinema should explore so many more concepts and so many more stories. There are incredible geographical locations in Gujarat. For example, when we shot Kutch Express in Kutch, we tried to show Kutch as it has never been shown before in any Hindi or Gujarati film. Similarly, people have a very stereotypical notion of what Gujarati movies are or what Gujarati people are like. I think our movies should try to break those stereotypes and should try to bring out those stories to the mainstream for us to reach a wider audience,” she said.
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