Actor Suriya is over the moon after being conferred with a prestigious National Award for the first time in his cinematic career and for the Tamil cinema industry, it is another remarkable feather in its cap as it has bagged more awards than its compatriots. Suriya has won the National Award for the Best Actor for his ace performance in the movie 'Soorarai Pottru'. 

Alluringly, Soorarai Pottru has turned heads for yet another time by winning more National Awards that were announced on Friday - July 22. It was the 68th National Awards event in which the best form of art from the league of movies, between January 2020 to December 2020, was honoured. Suriya is a recipient of the Best Actor award along with Bollywood's Ajay Devgn. 

Ever since the announcement was made, Suriya has been flooded with wishes from across and beyond the borders. Hours after the bestowment, the National Award-winning actor penned a heart-touching statement in which he thanked his fans and well-wishers, besides commending the artists who won the National Awards. His statement has been going viral and the actor asserted that this glorious recognition gives him a crucial push to his commitment to presenting good movies.

Suriya wrote, "Vanakkam! My heartfelt thanks for all the love & good wishes that have reached us & enriched our lives so far. We are ecstatic with the Five National awards for Soorarai Pottru. The overwhelming reception for our film which was released directly on OTT during a pandemic has made our eyes well up in joy. Our happiness is doubled at this National recognition for Soorarai Pottru as it is a testimony of Sudha Kongara's many years of hard work & creative vision of Captain Gopinath's story." 

He said, "My heartfelt congratulations to the National award winners of our film - Aparna Balamurali (Best Actress), GV Prakash (Background score), Sudha Kongara & Shalini Usha Nair (Best Screenplay). My sincere appreciation and gratitude to all the talents who stood by us during the making of this good film. The Best Film award is great recognition for team 2D and I thank them along with my best friend & CEO Rajasekar Karpoorasundara Pandian." 

"I extend my gratitude to Director Vasanth Sai & Filmmaker- Producer Maniratnam who placed their faith in my acting abilities and gave me my first film, Nerukku Ner. My heartiest congratulations to my fellow Best Actor winner Ajay Devgn and other National award winners from Tamil Nadu, Filmmaker Vasanth Sai, Editor Sreekar Prasad, Actor Lakshmi Priya Chandramouli, Filmmaker Madonne Ashwin, and other award-winners from other states of our country, for the year 2020, in this 68th National Film Awards", the actor added.

He further penned, "My special thanks to my Jyotika, who insisted I should produce & act in Soorarai Pottru. My love and Thank you to all those who have encouraged my efforts so far and to my Amma & Appa, Karthi & Brinda, who have supported me always. I dedicate this award to my kids Diya and Dev and to my loving family. I share this joyous moment with all my brothers and sisters who are out there, who have shown me immense love and acceptance right through my career. My heartfelt thanks to you all my #anbaanafans."

"The National Award gives me the motivation to work harder and walk my talk...and give you all good films, now & always. My sincere thanks to the Government of India and the National Awards Jury for this high recognition of our work. I once again thank each and every one of you for your love & good wishes", the actor wrote in his thanksgiving statement. 

Soorarai Pottru was partly inspired by events from the life of Simplifly Deccan founder GR Gopinath. The movie was written and helmed by Sudha Kongara and bankrolled by Suriya & Jyothika under their banner 2D Entertainment and by Guneet Monga under her banner Sikhya Entertainment. While Suriya played the lead role, Aparna Balamurali, Paresh Rawal, Mohan Babu, Urvashi, Karunas, Poo Ramu, Vivek Prasanna, and Kaali Venkat played important roles. GV Prakash Kumar has composed the music and the movie was directly released on the Amazon Prime OTT in November 2020. 

மனமார்ந்த நன்றி!
Overwhelmed!! #SooraraiPottru pic.twitter.com/fxGycj7h4Y

— Suriya Sivakumar (@Suriya_offl) July 22, 2022