Sukumar wins National award for screenplay, Venky Atluri for dialogue

The winners of the 72nd National Film Awards were announced on Saturday, and Telugu cinema enjoyed a memorable outing with several major wins.

Director-writer Sukumar won the Best Screenplay award for “Pushpa 2,” sharing the honour with Marathi writer Yogesh Deshpande. “Pushpa 2” also received the Best Costume Design award.

This marks another National Award recognition for the Pushpa franchise. Earlier, Allu Arjun had won the Best Actor award for his performance in the first installment, Pushpa: The Rise.

Another major honour came for Telugu filmmaker Venky Atluri, who won the Best Dialogue Writer award for “Lucky Baskhar,” starring Dulquer Salmaan.

Meanwhile, “35 Chinna Katha Kaadu,” starring Nivetha Thomas, was named the Best Children’s Film.

Overall, Telugu cinema emerged as one of the biggest winners at the 72nd National Film Awards, with accolades across screenplay, dialogue writing, costume design, children’s cinema, Best Telugu film, makeup and popular films.