Regional cinema eclipses Bollywood at 65th National Film Awards

The coveted Dadasaheb Phalke Award – the country's highest cinema honour – was reserved for late actor Vinod Khanna. Even the late Sridevi was given a posthumous Best Actor honour for her intense role as a mother in her last released film Mom.

The winners' list has a good mix of Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali and Assamese films. The award for the Best Jasari Film was given to "Sinjar", Best Tulu Film to "Paddayi" and the Best Ladakhi Film to "Walking With The Wind", which won two other honours. Only "Newton" emerged as the big winner out of Hindi cinema as it bagged the Best Hindi Film award and a Special Mention for actor Pankaj Tripathi. Divya Dutta bagged the Best Supporting Actor for "Irada", which was named Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation. Ganesh Acharya scored the Best Choreography Award for "Gori tu latth maar" from Toilet: Ek Prem Katha.

Oscar winning composer A.R. Rahman won two honours – music direction award for Tamil film "Kaatru Veliyidai" and acing background music for "Mom". Rima Das' "Village Rockstars", about the spirit of poor but fun-loving children, also won the Best Editing honour for the filmmaker.

S.S. Rajamouli's magnum opus Baahubali 2: The Conclusion won the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, apart from bagging the Best Special Effects honour.