President Pratibha Patil on Friday gave away the Best Actor award to Dhanush for his performance in 'Aadukalam', at the 58th National Film Awards at a glittering function in Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.

Others from Kollywood who were honoured with National Awards at the function were Saranya Ponvannan (Best Actress - 'Thenmerku Paruvakaatru'), Vairamuthu (Best Lyricist - 'Thenmerku Paruvakaatru'), Vetrimaran (Best Screenplay and Direction - 'Aadukalam'), Thambi Ramaiah (Best Supporting Actor - 'Mynaa'), Kishore (Best Edting - 'Aadukalam'), Dinesh (Best Choreography - 'Aadukalam') and a special award for Jayapalan, who beautifully enacted the Pettaikaran role in 'Aadukalam'. 'Thenmerku Paruvakatru' was honoured with the Best Film Award in the regional movies category.

Also, art director Sabu Cyril and special effects expert Srinivas M Mohan were presented the National Awards for their work in Superstar Rajinikanth starrer 'Enthiran', directed by Shankar and produced by Sun Pictures.

Speaking on the occasion, both Pratibha Patil and Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni emphasized the role that films can play in India's emergence as a "soft power" on the global platform.

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Dhanush is best actor at National Film Awards
Regional cinema was in the spotlight at the 58th National Film Awards presented today. Big winners included Tamil actor Dhanush and Malayalam actor Salim Kumar who shared the prestigious Best Actor award. Malayalam film Adaminte Makan Abu bagged the Best Feature Film.

The awards were presented by President Pratibha Patil at the Vigyan Bhawan.

The awards were hosted by actors Mahie Gill and Rajat Kapoor. "I am hosting the national awards function in Delhi- its a new thing for me.. A little nervous..." the actor tweeted before the event.

Veteran Tamil filmmaker K. Balachander was conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2010 for his outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema.

The 81-year-old writer-director-producer has directed nearly 80 films in his career and launched the career of Kamal Hassan and Rajinikanth.

Hindi cinema's big award came from Dabangg, starring Salman Khan. Dabangg picked up the award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.

Directed by Abhinav Kashyap and produced by Arbaaz Khan, Malaika Arora Khan and Dhilin Mehta, Dabangg was a runaway hit, collecting a record-setting 14.5 crore on the first day. That record has now been undone by another Salman Khan film, Bodyguard which coasted to a jaw-dropping 22 crore on its first day.

The Award for the Best Hindi Film has been given to Do Dooni Chaar, produced by Arindam Chaudhuri and directed by Habib Faisal. he unpretentious film brought back the 70s hit pair and real-life star couple Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh on screen after decades.

Other notable winners include Marathi actress Mitalee Jagtap Varadkar and Tamil actress Saranya Ponvannan who jointly won Best Actress for Baboo Band Baaja and Thenmerkku Paruvakkatru. Husband-wife music-makers Rekha Bhardwaj and Vishal Bhardwaj won an award each for Best Female Playback Singer and Best Music Direction for Ishqiya.

The List of Winners at the 58th National Film Awards: