Ajay Devgn won the National Film Award for Best Actor for his role in Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior. The movie also won the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and Best Costume honours. Ajay shared the Best Actor trophy with Suriya, who was declared the joint winner for his work in Soorarai Pottru.
On winning the National award, Ajay expressed his enthusiasm and said, "I’m elated to win the Best Actor Award for Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior at the 68th National Awards along with Suriya who won for Soorarai Pottru. I thank everyone, most of all my creative team, the audience and my fans. I also express my gratitude to my parents & the Almighty for their blessings. Congratulations to all the other winners.’’
Ajay, who is also one of the producers of Tanhaji, also shared his happiness for the movie winning the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment award. On this, he said, "As the producer of Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, it gives me immense joy to receive an honour at the 68th National Film Awards for the Best film that has provided wholesome entertainment. Tanhaji was exactly that. It is a good story of friendship, loyalty, family values and sacrifice. It has strong national sentiments, super VFX and a holistic approach in entertainment. I must share the honour with my director Om Raut, my co-producers, T-Series and my co-actors. Most of all, I thank my creative team who has contributed handsomely to making this a blockbuster and now a National Award winner.”
Read: National Film Awards Winners: Ajay Devgn, Suriya win Best Actors, Soorarai Pottru Best Film | LIST
With this award for Tanhaji, Ajay has now become a three-time National Award winner for Best Actor. he won the honour first back in 1998 for Zakhm. Then in 2002, he was declared Best Actor for his role in The Legend of Bhagat Singh.
Lately, Ajay has directed Runway 34, in which he was the lead actor alongside Amitabh Bachchan. He is currently directing and featuring in Bholaa, the remake of Kaithi. He will be seen in Maidaan, Thankgod, Drishyam 2 and Singham 3 in the coming time.
Read: Ajay Devgn wins National Film Award for Best Actor for Tanhaji, shares honour with Suriya