The 54th National Film Awards was announced today in New Delhi.

Among the big winners was Pulijanmam, Priyanandan's Malayalam film. It bagged the National Award for Best Film. Pulijanmam, a 2006 film based on the famous Malayalam play of the same name by N Prabhakaran, stars Murali. It is Priyanandan's second film following the critically acclaimed Neythukaaran.

Other winners include Rajkumar Hirani's Lage Raho Munnabhai, which was adjudged the Best Popular Film providing wholesome entertainment.

Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee, who declined the Special Jury award in 2001 following a controversy about a partisan jury, won the Best Actor award for his role in debutant director Suman Ghosh's Podokkhep. Chatterjee, who has many international awards to his credit but not a single national award till now, played an old man who drifted away from his daughter and developed a bond with a child, who moves into his neighbourhood.

Tamil actress Priyamani won the Best Actress award for her performance in Ameer Sulthan's Paruthiveeran [Images], a film on the caste divide. This film was also featured at the Berlin Film Festival.

Meanwhile, Madhur Bhandarkar won the Best Director award for his film, Traffic Signal.