National Film Awards to be presented today, Amitabh Bachchan to miss event

The best actor award this year was shared by Ayushmann Khurrana and Vicky Kaushal

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The National Film Awards 2019 will be presented to the winners, at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi on Monday. President Ram Nath Kovind will distribute the awards.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Sunday said he is giving the ceremony a miss as he is "down with fever". The 77-year-old actor, who was set to be honoured with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award at the ceremony. "Down with fever .. ! Not allowed to travel .. will not be able to attend National Award tomorrow in Delhi .. so unfortunate .. my regrets ..," Bachchan wrote.

Considered the highest honour for an artiste in Indian cinema, the award comprises a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a shawl, and a cash prize of Rs 10,00,000. It was conferred upon late actor Vinod Khanna in 2017.

Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar will be attending the ceremony.

Traditionally, the National Awards are handed out to the winners by the President of India. According to sources, President Kovind will host high tea for the winners later.

The best actor award this year was shared by Ayushmann Khurrana (Andhadhun) and Vicky Kaushal (Uri:The Surgical Strike). Keerthy Suresh bags best actress for Mahanati, for portraying a 'range of emotions in a biopic'.

The crew of the national award-winning Malayalam movie Sudani from Nigeria had recently announced their decision to boycott the function in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

The Soubin Shahir-starrer movie bagged the National award for the Best Malayalam film in 66th National Film Awards. Director Zakariya Mohammed took to Facebook, protesting against CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

"Protesting against CAA and National Register of Citizens, I, as the director of Sudani from Nigeria, along with scriptwriter Muhsin Parari and the producers of the film, will not attend the National Award ceremony," he posted.