The National Film Awards were announced on Friday, August 9, 2019, revealing some surprising wins. The biggest winners of the day in Hindi cinema were Uri: The Surgical Strike, AndhaDhun and Padmaavat.
The Sanjay Leela Bhansali directorial bagged three awards at the 66th National Film Awards. The film won the best music director award (songs) for Bhansali, in addition to best choreography (Kruti Mahesh Madya and Jyoti Tomar) for Ghoomar and best playback singer (Arijit Singh) for Binte Dil.
The big win has given unexpected happiness to Bhansali, who received a lot of flak during the film's release. Recalling the nation-wide protests, Bhansali said that creating music for the period drama kept him sane in the darkest moments.
"I made Padmaavat through so much chaos and trouble. It is the most difficult film that I have ever made. There has been physical assault, morcha, dharna, banning of the film and every possible thing that could have gone wrong. But every time I felt low, I created a song and it was a nice outlet for me. It (music) was a positive way of looking at all the difficulties," Bhansali told PTI in an interview after the win.
Thanking the jury for the awards, Bhansali said, "Any recognition, and especially the one coming from the government, means a lot. It is chosen by the jury of very qualified and respected people. It encourages you to work harder. It is a pat on the back and an emotional moment."
Bhansali, who won the award for best Music Direction, also revealed that the song Ghoomar, much like Deewani Mastani, came to him while taking bath. In a previous interview to Bollywood Hungama, he said, "I just made the song while having a bath. One day I was just having bath and it happened. It was similar with Deewani Mastani and lot of songs. A lot of these songs have emerged in complete silence and spontaneously."
The film featured Deepika as queen Padmavati, Shahid Kapoor as Rana Rawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as Sultan Alauddin Khilji.
(With inputs from PTI)
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