Vicky Kaushal in Sardar Udham
No offence to Allu Arjun (or his fans) but the Pushpa star's National Award for Best Actor has polarized social media. Allu Arjun's performance as the gangster Pushpa was blockbuster – but was it National Award-worthy? The Internet jury seems to be out on this one with several suggesting that Vicky Kaushal's performance in Sardar Udham was superior. Sardar Udham, based on the life of freedom fighter Udham Singh, won five National Awards including Best Hindi Film. Vicky, a previous winner of the National Award for Best Actor, received unanimously glowing notices for his performance when the film released. However, the National Award jury, headed by Ketan Mehta, thought Allu Arjun more deserving.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, there is a fair bit of outrage with both Vicky Kaushal and Allu Arjun trending. Vicky's performance was variously described as a "masterclass" and "timeless."
A post proposed last year's Best Actor Suriya in Jai Bheem and Anupam Kher in The Kashmir Files as more worthy of the National Award.
Another post suggested that the credibility of the National Awards had been compromised.
This post is a reminder of Saif Ali Khan's controversial win for Hum Tum.
Three years ago, Vicky Kaushal shared the National Award for Best Actor with Ayushmann Khurrana. They were awarded for their roles in Uri: The Surgical Strike and Andhadhun, respectively.
The National Awards for the year 2021 were announced yesterday. Allu Arjun is a first time winner, as are Alia Bhatt and Kriti Sanon, joint winners of the Best Actress prize.