Rishi Kapoor, Arbaaz on cloud nine after national award

Rishi Kapoor and Arbaaz Khan expressed their happiness in various ways after their films Do Dooni Chaar and Dabangg bagged national awards.

Arbaaz's debut production venture Dabangg was named the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment at the 58th National Film Awards announced Thursday.

'It's a proud moment for my entire family and the team of Dabangg'. The national award is extremely prestigious. I am over the moon,' said Arbaaz.

On hearing that Do Dooni Chaar has won the award for best Hindi film, Rishi Kapoor was virtually dancing in New York.

'Here we are talking about a sequel to Do Dooni Chaar and now it has won the national award. Wowwwwwwww!!! I am so happy to see such a small film make such a big noise all the way here in the US. Sequel ka haq banta hai (It deserves sequel),' said Rishi.

In the south, the ailing Rajnikanth's son-in-law Dhanush won the best actor award for Aadukalam. His wife Aishwarya said: 'The good news comes at a time when the family is in distress. I'm extremely proud of Dhanush. He has done my father proud, too.'

Such is the predominance of regional cinema in this year's national awards that Hindi filmmaker Ananth Mahadevan has won awards for his stunning Marathi film Mee Sindhutal Sapkal. The film won the special jury award, best male playback singer for Suresh Wadkar and best screenpaly (adapted) for Anant Mahadevan and Sanjay Pawar.

'I'm humbled and honoured that an emotional film about a woman who spreads goodwill has made such an impact,' said Mahadevan.

Bollywood filmmaker J P Dutta, who chaired the national award jury this year, said: 'It was a pleasure to see cinema from all over the country making such an impact. It's about time we stopped looking at Bollywood as the fulcrum of Indian cinema. There's so much quality work happening all over the country. This year's national awards are proof of it.'