Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan is understood to be the frontrunner for the best actor award in the 2005 National Films awards for his sterling performance in hindi film 'Black' while yesteryears actress Sarika, who made a comeback in films, is believed to be ahead for the the best actress award.

While Amitabh portrays the role of an Alzheimer's victim in the Sanjay Leela Bhansali blockbuster, Sarika is being considered for her performance in Rahul Dholakia's 'Parzania', a film on the Gujarat riots.

According to sources, Buddhadeb Dasgupta's Bengali film 'Kalpurush', starring Mithun Chakraborty, Rahul Bose and Sameera Reddy, is the frontrunner in the Best Film Award category.

On the other hand, Black is believed to be the favourite for the Best Hindi Film award while '15 Park Avenue' directed by Aparna Sen is tipped to get the Best English Film Award.

The jury for the feature film section, headed by B Saroja Devi, along with the chairpersons of the non-feature section (Siddhartha Kak) and best writing on cinema (Khalid Mohammed), handed sealed envelopes containing the decisions to Information and Broadcasting Secretary S K Arora.

The results, however, have been kept under wrap because of the Bombay High Court judgment that directed the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) to consider uncensored films for the competition. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry is believed to be consulting the Law Ministry on whether to challenge the judgment in the Supreme Court.

Versatile actor Anupam Kher is believed to be in the forefront for the Special Jury Award for his performance in 'Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Mara' while Pradip Sarkar is believed to be the favourite for the Indira Gandhi Award for the Best First Film of a Director for his film 'Parineeta'.

Naseeruddin Shah is is understood to be ahead in the race for the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in 'Iqbal', which essays the struggle of a deaf and dumb boy to break into the Indian cricket team.

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's blockbuster 'Rang De Basanti', a hit especially with the young generation, is believed to be favourite in the award of Best Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. The film stars Aamir Khan and its songs turned to be super hits.