Priyanka Chopra named Best Actress in 56th National Awards

Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra won her first National Award for her performance in Madhur Bhandarkar's critically acclaimed film Fashion.

The 56th National Film Award for 2008 were announced on Saturday. New Delhi: The 56th National Film Awards have been announced and Priyanka Chopra has been honoured with the Best Actress Award for her role in multi award winning film ‘Fashion’. Following her closely is her ‘Fashion’ co-star Kangna Ranuat, who walked away with the Best Supporting Actress Award. As for the Best Actor Award, it has been awarded to Upendra Limaye for his stunning act in Marathi film ‘Jogwa’. 
 

Over phone from New York, where Priyanka is busy shooting for her forthcoming film Anjaan Anjaani, the actress said: "I will give full credit to Madhur (Madhur Bhandarkar) and the crew. I am really honoured. National Award is the biggest honour of our country and I am really honoured to have received one."

The actress also wrote on her Twitter account: "Thank you Madhur, Ronnie, Kangana, Mughda, Arjan, Arbaaz and the cast and crew!! A huge shout to my team and all of u!! God is kind!!! Yaaaaayyy!!"

Director Madhur Bhandarkar, who has already bagged two National awards earlier for his films Page 3 and Traffic Signal, said he was delighted that his work was being appreciated. 

Meanwhile, Best Actor Award (Male) went to Upendra Limaye for Marathi film Jogwa. 

Actress Kangna Ranaut also bagged Best Supporting actress for her role in Fashion. Congratulating Kangna, Priyanka wrote on her Twitter: "Congrats Kangana!! I would not have been Meghna Mathur (Priyanka's character) without you!! You deserve it!!!"

Dibakar Banerjee's Oye Lucky Luck Oye won the Best Popular Film and Best Film was Rahul Bose-starrer Bengali film Antaheen.

Arjun Rampal, whose career got a revival of sorts with Om Shanti Om, got Best Supproting Actor for Rock On.
I am one of the youngest actresses to win the National Award - Priyanka Chopra

Priyanka Chopra- Best Actress in 56th National Films Awards - Video

Best Hindi Film: Rock On Best Film: Antaheen (Bengali) Best Actress: Priyanka Chopra (Fashion) Best Actor: Upendra Limaye 'Jogwa'. Best Supporting actress: Kangna Ranaut (Fashion) Best Supporting actor: Arjun Rampal (Rock On) Best Debut Film: A Wednesday Best Special Effects: Mumbai Meri Jaan Best Popular Film: Oye Lucky Lucky Oye Best Male Singer: Hariharan  Best Female Singer: Shreya Ghoshal Best Animation Film: Roadside Romeo Best Editing: Firaaq  Best Children Film: Gubachi Ganu

At 4 a.m. in New York Saturday, the last thing Priyanka Chopra was expecting to hear was that she had won her first National Film Award. She jumped out of bed in sheer joy when she got the news.

“It feels soooooo fantastic! It’s 5 in the morning here (New York) and my phone has been ringing non-stop since about an hour. I am so excited, ” Priyanka told over the phone from New York, where she has been shooting for Siddharth Anand’s “Anjaana Anjaani”.

The 27-year-old has won her first ever National Film Award for her performance in Madhur Bhandarkar’s “Fashion”. She says she is glad that she agreed to do the film.

“When Madhur approached me for this film, I was terrified about how complex the character was. But I am glad that I did it, ” she said
Though Priyanka has already won several awards including a Filmfare best actress award for her portrayal of a struggling model in the film, she says the National Award is most special.

“This is a National Award! I was just not expecting this and especially because there are several regional films and actors competing for it. One can’t keep track of the nominations at all. But this feels just great. After having won 15 awards for ‘Fashion’ so far, I feel I have come full circle with this one, ” she said.

Instead of celebrating her success, the actress says she was looking forward to the morning shoot scheduled for “Anjaana Anjaani”, in which she is featuring opposite Ranbir Kapoor.

“I have a shoot tomorrow morning. So I just want to sleep right now so that I wake up fresh. I will be in a mood for celebration, but the shooting will definitely happen. It is my bread and butter – and also what will hopefully – yes hopefully, fetch me my next National award, ” she joked.

Priyanka, who made her Bollywood debut in 2003, says she received the most special congratulatory call from her parents. Her father Ashok Chopra had shed tears after watching “Fashion” in 2008 because he was touched with his daughter’s performance, and he cried now again after hearing about her victory.

 “My father called me up and said he is ecstatic and extremely proud of me. He had tears again. He is happy because I have achieved so much in such a short span of my career, and that makes him really proud, ” she added.

Priyanka, who won the Miss World title in 2000, made her Bollywood debut with “The Hero: Love Story of a Spy” and then featured in “Andaaz”, for which she even won a Filmfare best female debut award.

In 2004, she delivered a critically acclaimed performance in “Aitraaz” and later did commercial films like “Mujhse Shaadi Karogi”, “Bluffmaster”, “Krrish”, “Don – The Chase Begins Again”, “Salaam-E-Ishq”, et al. But it was “Fashion” that brought her into the league of top-rated actresses in Bollywood.

She has, since then, given commercial hits like “Dostana” and “Kaminey” and also featured in films like “What’s Your Rashee”, and more recently in “Pyaar Impossible”, which didn’t fare too well at the box office.

She is hoping to strike gold again with “Anjaana Anjaani” and Vishal Bharadwaj’s “Seven Husbands”.
Priyanka Chopra- Best Actress in 56th National Films Awards - Video

I am one of the youngest actresses to win the National Award - Priyanka Chopra

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