A still from Soorarai Pottru film. (courtesy: taapsee)
The 68th National Awards were announced on Friday evening and the award for Best Actor was shared by Ajay Devgn and Suriya for Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior and Soorarai Pottru, respectively. Suriya, who will be celebrating his 47th birthday tomorrow, received a whole lot of love from fans on Twitter, who called his win the "best birthday present." Soorarai Pottru is based on the life of Simplifly Deccan founder G Gopinath and is being remade in Hindi with Akshay Kumar and Radhika Madan in the lead.
Fans are trending the hashtag #HBDDearSuriya after the winner's list was announced in New Delhi.
One Twitter user shared snippets from the film and wrote: "Soorarai Pottru is such a close to heart movie for me during the lockdown time the struggles are kinda similar to everyone who is ambitious to achieve something which was perfectly played by Suriya. A perfect birthday gift came in advance for him."
Another fan posted a touching scene from the film and wrote: "Best birthday gift."
Another one hailed: "Perfect birthday gift for Suriya," with the hashtag #HBDDearSuriya.
A Twitter user shared a glimpse of Suriya in Soorarai Pottru: "This man has finally done it .His name is Suriya Sivakumar BEST ACTOR. Best birthday gift for you."
A fan recalled the moment when Suriya promised his fans that he will make them proud. Recounting the incident, the fan wrote: "During Soorarai Pottru Promotion Suriya made a promise "I'll make Anbaana fans proud " Last two years he's making us proud. Always proud to be your Fan anna & Advance Happy Birthday to my Idol."
Meanwhile, Aparna Balamurali received the National Award for Best Actress in the lead role for her performance in Soorarai Pottru. Besides this, the film won the Best Feature Film award along with Best Screenplay for Shalini Usha Nair and director Sudha Kongara as well as Best Music Direction (Background Score) for GV Prakash Kumar.