Following the announcement of the 68th National Film Awards, Rajinikanth took to his Twitter handle on Saturday to congratulate actor Suriya for winning the Best Actor Award.
His statement read, “My heartiest congratulations and appreciation to Suriya, Soorarai Pottru’s director and all other artists who have won the National Film Awards.”
#NationalFilmAwards தேசிய திரைப்பட விருது பெற்றிருக்கும் சூர்யாவுக்கும் @Suriya_offl , சூரரைப் போற்று பட இயக்குநர் மற்றும் விருது பெறும் திரையுலகக் கலைஞர்கள் அனைவருக்கும் என்னுடைய மனமார்ந்த வாழ்த்துகளும், பாராட்டுகளும்
— Rajinikanth (@rajinikanth) July 23, 2022
Besides, several other artists including Mammootty, Mohanlal, Chiranjeevi, Akshay Kumar, Dhanush and Madhavan, among others wished the actor. Tamil Chief Minister MK Stalin, also extended his appreciation to Suriya and other award winners. Some of them have also extended their birthday wishes to Suriya who is celebrating his 47th birthday on Saturday (July 23).
#68thNationalFilmAwards-இல் விருதுகளைக் குவித்துத் தமிழ்த்திரையுலகுக்குப் பெருமை சேர்த்துள்ள தம்பி @Suriya_offl, @Sudha_Kongara, @gvprakash, @Aparnabala2 உள்ளிட்ட #SooraraiPottru படக்குழுவினருக்கும்; (1/3)
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) July 22, 2022
National award. A beautiful birthday gift..
Happy birthday Dear @Suriya_offl pic.twitter.com/fdIdbj2ImH— Mammootty (@mammukka) July 22, 2022
@Suriya_offl THATS MY BRO… CONGRATULATIONS ON THE NATIONAL AWARD for #Sooraraipottru… Heart swells with pride bro ..
— Ranganathan Madhavan (@ActorMadhavan) July 22, 2022
Hearty Congrats to my dearest @Suriya_offl on the National Best Actor Award!! It’s even more special coming on the eve of your birthday!! Many Many Happy Returns of the Day & Wishing you Many many more accolades along the way!!#68thNationalFilmAwards pic.twitter.com/B7pLPgDIyw
— Chiranjeevi Konidela (@KChiruTweets) July 23, 2022
Over the moon to see #SooraraiPottru win the top honours at the National Awards. Heartfelt congratulations my brother @Suriya_offl, #AparrnaBalamurali and my director #SudhaKongara. Humbled to be working in the Hindi adaptation of such an iconic film
— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) July 22, 2022
A big congratulations to all the national award winners. Especially @Suriya_offl sir and my good friend @gvprakash A big day for Tamil cinema. Super proud.
— Dhanush (@dhanushkraja) July 22, 2022
Some birthday presents are precious coincidences. Happy birthday and congratulations once again, dear Suriya! @Suriya_offl pic.twitter.com/05MuJfzx1A
— Mohanlal (@Mohanlal) July 23, 2022
Soorarai Pottru became the most celebrated film of this edition with wins for Best Film, Suriya (Best Actor), GV Prakash Kumar (Best Background Score), Sudha Kongara and Shalini Usha Nair (Best Screenplay).
The 68th National Awards for films that were submitted in 2020, were announced on Friday. It was a huge haul for cinema from South India, which secured 20 wins in the 29 awarded feature film categories. While Tamil cinema led the pack with nine wins, Malayalam cinema followed closely with six, Telugu with three, and Kannada with two.