Manasi Parekh bags Best Actress Award for performance in ‘Kutch Express’ at 70th National Film Awards
Manasi Parekh bags Best Actress Award for performance in ‘Kutch Express’ at 70th National Film Awards
Manasi Parekh has been honoured with the Best Actress award at the 70th National Film Awards for her performance in the Gujarati film ‘Kutch Express.
The film produced by her also bagged two more awards for Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social and Environmental Values; and Best Costume Design. Manasi had earlier stated that she began crying on hearing the news, now exclusively reveals to a news channel amidst her interaction that it took 48 hours for the feeling to finally sink in.
She went on to add that this is the moment she has been working for for the past 20 years. One doesn”t talk about these things until they happen and now that it has happened, she can say that she was working towards it with each project she shot for and feels much satisfied, and humbled all at once because in a country of 133 million people, she got to be the best actress in 2024, and that’s no mean feat. It’s unreal!”
Kutch Express also featured Ratna Pathak Shah and Darsheel Safary. Elaborating on how team of Kutch Express reacted to it, she shared that the entire team are immensely happy and they always knew that it was a special film as all of them worked on it with full attention to every detail. Everybody was so involved that she thinks it was that collective energy and vibe that made them to bag the awards.
On the reaction from her colleagues from the film fraternity, she voiced that her peers have been so encouraging and ifact, the first message she got was from Anand Tiwari, who recently directed Bad Newz. She got messages from Vidya Balan, Paresh Rawal, Pankaj Kapur, Supriya Pathak, Mohit Raina, and Amruta Khanwalkar and her actor friends Malhar Thakar, Pratik Gandhi and Arohi Patel. They’ve all been so kind. All of this means the world to her. August 16, 2024, is a date she will never forget for the rest of her life.
The last time a Gujarati film was honoured at the National Awards was Hellaro in 2019. Manasi believes that became an important ‘step forward’. “Hellaro won the Best Feature Film award. But Kutch Express won three awards. It’s the only Gujarati film in the last 70 years to have won three National Awards in the same year. With Hellaro, there was an incredible acknowledgment of the Gujarati industry,” she states.
She hopes for Gujarati cinema to garner national and even international prominence in the near future, the Sumit Sambhal Lega and India Calling actor adds, and now with Kutch Express getting these honours, people are going to definitely realise that our industry isn’t going to be as small-scale as it has been. It’s going to go big and international. She as an actress and producer aim for that because they have incredible writers and artists and they need to come out for the world to see.
News Edit K.V.Raman
