Regional cinema was in the limelight at the 58th National Film Awards presented on Friday as Tamil actor Dhanush and Malayalam actor Salim Kumar shared the best prestigious Best Actor award.

President Pratibha Patil presented the awards at the Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi in a ceremony hosted by Mahie Gill and Rajat Kapoor where Malayalam film Adaminte Makan Abu bagged the Best Feature Film title.

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2010 was conferred to veteran Tamil film maker K Balachander.

Giving away the awards, President Patil said that cinema was a very powerful medium for conveying messages and it was necessary for promoting constructive and value based thinking for a culturally rich country like India.

This medium imposed a great responsibility on everyone associated with the film industry to use the power of cinema to do good for society, through the portrayal of attitudes that help in building a tolerant and harmonious society, she said.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Ambika Soni said that the Government had moved forward in setting up the National Film Heritage Mission with an outlay of Rs 660 crores.

This Mission would provide a platform for comprehensive solutions for cataloging, dissemination and monetization of film content, video tapes, posters and other related materials in the possession of either the Film Wing of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting or with the various State Governments as well as with private individuals and institutions.

The greatest benefit of the Mission would be to enable the preservation of the invaluable film heritage of the country which is an integral part of our socio-cultural heritage.

Three thousand films will be acquired and digitized and 3, 000 films will be restored and transferred to inter-negatives under the scheme and will be available at affordable rates as DVDs to public for viewing.

Elaborating further the Minister said, the year 2013 would mark the centenary year of Indian Cinema. This centenary would be a milestone in India's cinematic journey that needs to be showcased and celebrated.

Regarding skill development in the film sector, Soni said that the two Institutes under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, namely, Film and Television Institute (FTII), Pune and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata were being upgraded to cater to the ever-increasing, highly skilled and specialized manpower requirement of the film and TV industry.

Measures were being taken to declare these two Institutes, as Institutions of National Importance through an Act of the Parliament.

Some of the key highlights of this year's National Film Awards are as follows:

Four child artists were awarded the National Award this time for various films, these include:
Harsh Mayar for the film "I am Kalam" – resides in Dakshinpuri, Delhi.
Shantanu Ranganekar for the film "Champions".
Machindra Gadekar for the film "Champions" - Lives in Dharavi, Mumbai.
Vivek Chabukswar for the film "Baboo Band Baaja".

For the category of the Best Actor & Actress
1. K Dhanush – First time National Award Winner for the film ‘Aadukalam' (Tamil). The actor who is also Rajnikant's son-in- law would be given a Rajat Kamal and Rs.50, 000/- cash.
2. Salim Kumar – for the film ‘Adaminte Makan Abu' (Malayalam) in which he has played a protagonist in serious role for the first time. He has been awarded the a Rajat Kamal and Rs 50, 000/- cash.
3. Mitalee Jagtap Varadkar - for the film ‘Baboo Band Baaja' (Marathi). She has been awarded a Rajat Kamal and Rs.50000/- (sharing).
4. Saranya Ponvannan - for the film ‘Thenmerkku Paruvakkatru' (Tamil). She has been awarded a Rajat Kamal and Rs.50000/- (sharing).

For the Category of Best Feature Film, ‘Adaminte Makan Abu' (Malayalam) film Produced by Salim Ahamad and Ashraf Bedi, were given the Swarn Kamal and Rs.2, 50, 000/- each.

Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director was given to ‘Baboo Band Baaja' (Marathi), Directed by Rajesh Pinjani, Produced by Neeta Jadhav. The winners were awarded Swarn Kamal and Rs.1, 25, 000/- each.

The award for Best Popular Film providing Wholesome Entertainment has been given to ‘Dabangg' (Hindi), produced by Arbaaz Khan, Malaika Arora Khan and Dhilin Mehta, Directed by Abhinav Singh Kashyap.

The Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration has been given to ‘Moner Manush'. The Film is an Indo- Bangladesh collaboration venture. One of the Producers Mr. Habibur Rehman, is from Bangladesh.

The Award for the Best Hindi Film has been given to ‘Do Dooni Chaar' Produced by Arindam Chaudhuri and Directd by Habib Faisal.

The film ‘Aadukalam' has won 6 Awards in various categories:
Best Director to Vetri Maaran
Best Actor to K.Dhanush
Best Screenplay (Original) to Vetri Maaran
Best Editing to T.E Kishore
Best Choreography to V.Dinesh Kumar
Special Mention to V.I.S Jayapalan, who is a Sri Lankan actor

The film ‘Adaminte Makan Abu' has won 4 Awards:
Best Feature Film
Best Actor to Salim Kumar
Best Cinematography to Madhu Ambat
Best Music direction to Issac Thomas Kottukapally

The award for the Best Book on Cinema has been given to Vijaya Mulay at the age of 90 years.

The film ‘Ishqiya' has won 4 Awards:
Best Audiography – Location Sound Recordist to Kaamod Kharade
Best Audiography – Re-recordist of the final mixed track to Debajit Changmai
Best Music Direction – Music Director to Vishal Bhardwaj
Best Female Playback Singer – to Rekha Bhardwaj.