Dadasaheb Phalke Awards 2021: Deepika Padukone, Akshay Kumar bag 'Best Actor' for Chhapaak, Laxmii

Bollywood superstars Deepika Padukone and Akshay Kumar bagged Dadasaheb Phalke Awards for 'Best Actor' in the prestigious award ceremony held on Saturday. The star-studded night that was held after a long span of time due to the COVID-19 pandemic honoured the talented artists for their outstanding contribution to the Indian cinema. Where Kiara Advani won the 'Critic's Best Actress' award to Sushmita Sen who won 'Best Actress-Web Series', Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone and Akshay Kumar bagged the 'Best Actor' award for their acclaimed performances in notable movies 'Chhapaak' and 'Laxmii'.

The official Instagram account of Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival announced the news. For the 'Padmaavat' star, they wrote, "Celebrating the dedication you've shown on the way to this achievement. Congratulations to @deepikapadukone for winning the "Best Actress" award at Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards 2021. Team DPIFF wishes you the best for your future endeavors!!"

Deepika who played the protagonist in the film also marked her debut as a producer with this film. Helmed by director Meghna Gulzar, the film is based on the real-life acid attack survivor Laxmi, who at the age of 15, was attacked allegedly by a spurned lover in 2005. Laxmi had to undergo several surgeries. Later, she took up the job of helping acid attack survivors and promoted campaigns to stop such attacks. Laxmi is a well-known advocate of stricter punishments in acid attack cases.

Meanwhile, for Akshay Kumar, the official Instagram account of Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival wrote, "Celebrating the dedication you've shown on the way to this achievement. Congratulations to @akshaykumar for winning the "Best Actor" award at Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards 2021. Team DPIFF wishes you the best for your future endeavors!!"

'Laxmii' is the remake of the Tamil film 'Kanchana,' and has been directed by Raghava Lawrence. It starred Akshay Kumar and Kiara Advani in the pivotal roles. The horror-comedy with a message for the need for equal rights for the third gender was premiered on November 9 2020 on DisneyPlus Hotstar.