The 70th National Film Awards prominently featured Southern cinema, with the Malayalam film 'Aattam: The Play' winning Best Feature Film. Rishabh Shetty received the Best Actor award for his role in the Kannada film 'Kantara,' which also won Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. The Best Actress award was shared by Nithya Menen for the Tamil film 'Thiruchitrambalam' and Manasi Parekh for the Gujarati film 'Kutch Express.' Sooraj R. Barjatya won Best Director for 'Uunchai,' marking a significant win for Bollywood. Music awards went to AR Rahman and Pritam for their work in 'Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1' and 'Brahmastra,' respectively. The awards highlighted the dominance of regional films, with Malayalam cinema leading with eight awards and other regional films collectively winning 20 out of 24 feature film awards.