Hindi
63rd National Film Awards: ‘Baahubali’ is best film;’Bajirao Mastani’ bags largest number of awards for 2015
New Delhi, 28 March: ‘Baahubali – The Beginning’ by S S Rajamouli, arguably the most expensive film ever made in India, today bagged the Best Film award for 2015, while megastar Amitabh Bachchan and Kangana Ranaut won awards for best artistes for ‘Piku’ and ‘Tanu weds Manu Returns’.‘Bajirao Mastani; bagged the largest number of awards with Sanjay Leela Bhansali getting the best director for the film at the 63rd National Film Awards for 2015, which will be presented on 3 May. ‘Baahubali – The Beginning’ also got the special effects award for V Srinivas Mohan.
The Feature Film Central panel was headed by Ramesh Sippy, and comprised of 11 members including the chairman. The-Non Feature jury was headed by Vinod Ganatra and comprised seven members including the chairman. The jury on Best Writing on Cinema was headed by Advaita Kala and comprised three members including the chairperson.
Prior to the announcement of the awards, the chairpersons of the three juries and members of the jury presented their reports to Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley. MoS Rajyavardhan Rathore and secretary Sunil Arora were also present. Jaitley appreciated the efforts put in by the jury members in deciding the awards in various categories which reflected the diversity of India’s cinematic brilliance and diversity.
Awards list in brief
Interestingly, the highly acclaimed and internationally applauded film ‘Masaan’ only received theIndira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director for Neeraj Ghaywan.
Contrary to expectations, Tanvi Azmi bagged the supporting actress award for ‘Bajirao Mastani’ (as the names Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra were also doing the rounds), while Samuthirakani got this award for the film ‘Visaaranai’, which also received the best Tamil Film and Best Editing awards (late Kishore T.E). Gaurav Menon was named best child artiste for ‘Ben’. Kalki Koelchin got a Special Jury Award for ‘Margarita with a straw’.
‘Bajirao Rao Mastani’ also won awards for Best choreography by Remo D’Souza for the song ‘Deewani Mastani’, Best Cinematography Sudeep Chaterjee, best sound design by Biswajit Chatterjee, re-recording of final mixed track by Justin Ghose, and best production design by Shriram Iyengar, Saloni Dhatrak and Sujeet Sawant.
The Salman Khan-starrer ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ by Kabir Khan was named for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, while the best Hindi Film award was given to ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha.’
Also interestingly, apart from the top actor awards, ‘Piku’ and ‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns’ also bagged awards for both original screenplay and dialogues for Juhi Chaturvedi (Piku) and Himanshu Sharma (Tanu Weds Manu Returns) respectively. The renowned director Vishal Bhardwaj received the best adapted screenplay accolades for the crime drama ‘Talvar’ inspired by a real-life case.
This is the fourth time that Bachchan, who entered the film industry in the late sixties, has won a national award. He had earlier bagged the award for ‘Agneepath’ in 1990, ‘Black’ in 2005 and ‘Paa’ in 2009.
Ranaut earlier won the best actress award for ‘Queen’ and a supporting actor award for ‘Fashion’.
The Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration went to ‘Nanak Shah Fakir’ which also bagged the awards for Best Costume Designer for Payal Sajula and Best Make-up Artist to Preetisheel G Singh and Clover Wootton for film ‘Nanak Shah Fakir’ by Gurbani Media Pvt. Ltd.
The award for best film on Social Issues went to ‘Niranayakam’ by V K Prakash, the Environment Conservation/Preservation award went to ‘Valiya Chirakulla Pakshikal’ by Dr Biju, and ‘Duronto’ Soumendra Padhi got the best Children’s Film. There was a special mention for Ritika Singh for the film ‘Irudhi Suttru’.
The award for best female playback went to Monali Thakur for the song ‘Moh Moh Ke Dhaage’ in ‘Dum Lagaa ke Haisha’ and Mahesh Kale won the male playback for ‘Katyar Kalijat Ghusli’.
The veteran Ilaiyaraaja got the Direction – Background Score award for ‘Thaarai Thappattai’ while M Jayachandran won the best Music Direction award for the song ‘Kaathirunnu Kaathirunnu’ in the film ‘Ennu Ninte Moideen’.
The best non-feature award went to Amdavad Ma Famous by Hardik Mehta. The best book on cinema book award went to Dr. Rajakumar Samagra Charithre by Doddahulluru Rukkoji and the best film critic award to Meghachandra Kongbam of Manipur.
In a music industry that often rewards speed, spectacle, and instant recall, Navjot Ahuja’s journey feels refreshingly different. His story is not built on noise. It is built on patience, discipline, emotional honesty, and a quiet commitment to becoming better with every passing year. After 14 years of struggle, learning, performing, and writing, Navjot stands today as an artist whose success has not changed his centre. If anything, it has only made his purpose clearer.
For Navjot, music has never been about chasing fame alone. It has always been about expression. It is about writing more truthfully, singing more skillfully, understanding himself more deeply, and becoming a kinder human being in the process. That rare clarity is what gives his journey its beauty.
Where It All Began: A Writer Before a Singer
Indian singer and songwriter Navjot Ahuja’s musical journey began in the most familiar of places: school assemblies. But even then, what was growing inside him was not only the desire to sing. It was the need to write.
Long before he saw himself as a performer, he had already discovered the emotional release that writing offered him. For Navjot, words became the first true channel for feeling. Songwriting came before singing because writing was the only way he could let emotions flow through him fully. That inner pull shaped his artistic identity early on.
Like many young musicians, he sharpened his craft by creating renditions of popular songs.
Those experiments became his training ground. But the turning point came in 2012, when he wrote his first original song. That moment did not just mark the beginning of songwriting. It marked the beginning of self-definition.
A Calling He Did Not Chase, But Accepted
What makes the latest Indian singer-songwriter Navjot’s story especially compelling is the way he describes his relationship with music. He does not frame it as a career he aggressively pursued. In his own understanding, music was not something he chose. It was something that chose him.
There was a time when he imagined a very different future for himself. He wanted to become a successful engineer, like many young people shaped by ambition and conventional expectations. But life had a different script waiting for him. During his college years, around 2021, music entered his life professionally and began taking a firmer shape.
That shift was not driven by image-building or industry ambition. It came from acceptance. Navjot embraced the fact that music had claimed him in a way no other path could. That sense of surrender continues to define the artist he is today.
An Artist Guided by Instinct, Not Influence
Unlike many singers who speak openly about idols, icons, and musical role models, Navjot’s creative world is built differently. He does not believe his music comes from imitation or inherited influence. He listens inward.
He has never considered himself shaped by ideals in the traditional sense. In fact, he admits that he does not particularly enjoy listening to songs, especially his own. His decisions as a songwriter and singer come from instinct. He writes what feels right. He trusts what his inner voice tells him. He positions his music according to what he honestly believes in, not what trends demand.
That creative independence gives his work a distinct emotional sincerity. His songs do not feel calculated. They feel alive.
The Long Years of Invisible Struggle
Every artist carries a chapter of struggle, and Navjot’s was long, demanding, and deeply formative. One of the biggest challenges he faced was building continuity as the best new indian singer songwriter in an era where musical collaboration is increasingly fluid.
For emerging singers, especially those trying to build with a band, consistency can be difficult. Instrumentalists today have more opportunities than ever to freelance and perform with multiple artists. While that growth is positive and well deserved, it can make things harder for singers who are still trying to establish a steady team and sound around their work.
For Navjot, one of the most difficult phases came during 2021 and 2022, when he was doing club shows almost every day. It was a period of relentless performance, but not always personal fulfillment. He was largely singing covers because clubs were not open to original songs that audiences did not yet know.
For a new Indian singer and songwriter, that can be a painful compromise. To perform constantly and still not have the freedom to share your own voice requires not just resilience, but restraint.
“Khat” and the Grace of Staying Unchanged
After 14 years of effort, Navjot’s new love song Khat became a defining milestone. Professionally, he acknowledges that the song changed how society viewed him as a musician. It strengthened his place in the public eye and altered his standing in meaningful ways.
Yet personally, he remains unchanged.
That is perhaps the most striking part of his story. Navjot says his routine is still the same. His calm is still the same. His writing process is still the same. He does not want success or failure to interfere with the purity of his art. For him, emotional detachment from public outcomes is essential because the moment an artist becomes too attached to validation, the writing begins to shift.
His joy comes not from numbers, but from the attempt. If he has tried to improve his skill today, if he has written his heart out more honestly than before, then he is at peace.
Growth, Not Glory, Remains the Real Goal
Even now, Navjot is not consumed by labels such as singles artist, performer, or digital success story. His focus remains deeply personal. He wants to sing better. He wants to play instruments better. He wants to understand himself more. And he wants to become a kinder person.
That is what makes Navjot Ahuja’s journey so moving. It is not simply the story of a musician finding recognition. It is the story of an artist who continues to grow inward, even as the world begins to look outward at him. In an age obsessed with applause, Navjot reminds us that the most meaningful success often begins in silence, honesty, and the courage to remain true to oneself.
