New Delhi, March 7
Gurvinder Singh won the best director prize for the Punjabi film "Anhe Ghorey Da Daan" in the 59th National Film Awards announced here today.

Based on a Punjabi novel of the same title by Gurdial Singh, the film is set in a village called Patinda, where villagers work on the fields of the local landlord. It deals with the plight and problems of the farmers as well as the landlords.

Vidya Balan was named the best actress for her performance in 'The Dirty Picture' while Marathi film 'Deool' and 'Byari', both dealing with man's engagement with religion, shared the best feature film award. 'Deool' lead star Girish Kulkarni won the best actor award.

Balan's win for "The Dirty Picture", based on the life of actress Silk Smitha, was on expected lines as she had won almost all Bollywood ‘best actress' awards for her role in the film. "The Dirty Picture" also shared awards for make-up and costume design with the Marathi film "Balgandharva".

The Tamil-language "Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai" was declared the best popular film. The feature film awards were announced by jury chairperson Rohini Hattangady at a news conference here today. The awards will be given away by the President at a later date. Among the honours that came Bollywood's way, "Chillar Party" walked away with three prizes: best original screenplay, best children's film and a shared award for best child artist - with Partho Gupte also winning for "Stanley ka Dabba".

Shah Rukh Khan's "Ra.One" won the national award for best special effects. "Game" picked up two of the three awards for audiography while "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" won the third. Bosco and Caesar bagged the choreography award for the ‘Senorita' song in "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara".