On September 30, the winners of the prestigious National Awards received the honor at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. At the 68th National Film Awards, a folk singer from Kerala with no professional film background was awarded the best playback singer honor.
Nanjiyamma received the award for the song Kalakkatha Sandhana from the Malayali film Ayyappanum Koshiyum. The director of the film KR Sachidanandan, popularly known as Sachy, selected her to sing the song, which earned her a prestigious award.
In a video, Nanjiyamma was seen singing the song after receiving the award in the presence of Sports Minister Anurag Thakur.
Taking to Twitter, Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Anurag Thakur also heaped praise on her by sharing a heart-warming video from the award show.
The audience gave her a standing ovation as she went on the stage to receive the award. The winners of the 68th National Film Awards were announced on July 22.
Meanwhile, Asha Parekh was honoured with the Dada Saheb Phalke award, which is the highest recognition in the field of Indian cinema. She said that she is "grateful for the recognition".
Apart from Asha and Nanjiyamma, Ajay Devgn also received the Best Actor award for Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior. The Singham actor also bagged the award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment for his film, Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior. This is Ajay's third National award win. Earlier, Ajay won the National Award for his 1998 film Zakhm and The Legend of Bhagat Singh.