The 54th National Film Awards was announced today in New Delhi [ Images ].

Among the big winners was Pulijanmam, Priyanandan's Malayalam film. It bagged the National Award for Best Film. Pulijanmam, a 2006 film based on the famous Malayalam play of the same name by N Prabhakaran, stars Murali. It is Priyanandan's second film following the critically acclaimed Neythukaaran.

Other winners include Rajkumar Hirani's [ Images ] Lage Raho Munnabhai, which was adjudged the Best Popular Film providing wholesome entertainment.

Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee, who declined the Special Jury award in 2001 following a controversy about a partisan jury, won the Best Actor award for his role in debutant director Suman Ghosh's Podokkhep. Chatterjee, who has many international awards to his credit but not a single national award till now, played an old man who drifted away from his daughter and developed a bond with a child, who moves into his neighbourhood.

Tamil actress Priyamani won the Best Actress award for her performance in Ameer Sulthan's Paruthiveeran [ Images ], a film on the caste divide. This film was also featured at the Berlin Film Festival.

Meanwhile, Madhur Bhandarkar [ Images ] won the Best Director award for his film, Traffic Signal.