70th National Film Awards: Nithya Menen, Manasi Parekh win Best Actress

The highly anticipated 70th National Film Awards results have been announced. As speculated earlier, Rishab Shetty won the Best Actor award, for his performance in the blockbuster movie, Kantara. It is a tie for the Best Actress award this time, with two talented artists winning the honor. Nithya Menen and Manasi Parekh jointly won the National Film Award for Best Actress, for their performances in Thiruchitrambalam and Kutch Express, respectively.

Nithya Menen wins the Best Actress award for Thiruchitrambalam

The multi-faceted talent, who has been active in almost every prominent Indian film industry, has now won her first-ever National Film Award. Nithya Menen won the Best Actress trophy at the 70th National Film Awards, for her heartwarming performance as Shobana, a young woman who chooses friendship over unrequited love, in the Tamil blockbuster Thiruchitrambalam. The Best Actress award results came out a big surprise for the cinephiles, such light-hearted characters are rarely considered for top honours at the National Film Awards.

Also Read: 70th National Film Awards: Brahmastra wins 3 honours, Rishab Shetty named Best Actor, and Attam crowned as Best Feature Film - A complete list of winners 

Manasi Parekh wins the Best Actress award for Kutch Express

The popular Gujarati actress won the Best Actress award at the 70th National Film Awards, along with Nithya Menen. Manasi Parekh won the prestigious award for her performance as a simple homemaker named Monghi in the Gujarati family drama Kutch Express. For the uninitiated, Manasi is also a first-time National Film Award winner.

Also Read: 70th National Film Awards: Ponniyin Selvan wins big, bags Best Tamil Film Award

Thiruchitrambalam and Kutch Express on OTT

The 2022-released Tamil blockbuster features National Award winner Dhanush as the titular character Thiruchitrambalam aka Palam. Nithya Menen played the role of Shobana, Palam’s best friend who secretly loves him, in this much-loved romanctic comedy film, directed by Mithran K Jawar. Thiruchitrambalam is currently available for streaming, on Sun NXT and OTTplay Premium.

Kutch Express, the Gujarati film which hit the theatres in 2023, revolves around Monghi and her mother Baiji, who discover the extramarital affair of the former’s husband and the latter’s son, Dharmesh. When the duo tries to solve the matter and bring back the lost happiness, things take a more complicated turn. This endearing film is now available for streaming on ShemarooMe and OTTplay Premium.