SRK, Aamir lose National Award to Kanchivaram's lead actor

The 55th National Awards, which were to be announced on Friday have now been pushed forward, probably to Monday, because of the tragic death of the Andhra chief minister.

The 55th National Awards, which were to be announced on Friday have now been pushed forward, probably to Monday, because of theu00a0 tragicu00a0 death of the Andhra chief minister.

Lost out

In a still from Kanchivaram

It is learnt from reliable sources within the awards committee that both the Khan superstars Shah Rukh and Aamir up for the best actor award for Chak De and Taare Zameen Par, respectively, lost the prestigious award to Tamil-Telugu-Kannada actor Prakash Raj.

Prakash Raj, it is reliablyu00a0 learnt, has won the award for his sterling performance as a silk weaver in Priyadarshan's Kanchivaram. This would be his second Nationalu00a0 award. He earlier won theu00a0 best supporting actor award for Mani Ratnam's Iruvar. The filmu00a0 has also beaten popular entry Taare Zameen Par.

Another winner....
Contrary to reports in a section of the press, Anil Kapoor's Gandhi My Father and SRK's Chak De have lost the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Film On National Integration to Bhavna Talwar's Dharm. Confirming this, Dharm's producer Sheetal Talwar says, "Yes,our film has won the Nargis Dutt Award. My wife Bhavna is the first debutant director to win this award . Earlier, it went to stalwarts likeu00a0 Mani Ratnam."