Mumbai: Playback singer Shilpa Rao was feted with the 71st National Film Award on Tuesday. The singer was given the award by the President of India, Droupadi Murmu at the Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.
The singer was lauded for her work in the song ‘Chaleya’ from the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer ‘Jawan’.
Reacting to her win, the singer said in a statement shared by her team, “This win is not my own. The National Award belongs to all those who stood by me, and to Jamshedpur, my hometown that shaped me and continues to be my anchor”.
Shilpa Rao is known for her soulful voice and versatility across genres. She made her debut in 2006 and went on to deliver memorable songs. She has collaborated internationally and earned recognition with a Grammy nomination as part of Berklee Indian Ensemble.
Meanwhile, she is cherishing the love coming in for her latest releases, ‘Ul Jalool Ishq’ from ‘Gustaakh Ishq’ and ‘Ghafoor’ from ‘The B***ds of Bollywood’.
Elsewhere during the ceremony, Prakash Kumar, who composed music for the film ‘Vaathi’, received the Best Music Composer award.
The ceremony started shortly after the dignitaries including the President, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Ashwini Vaishnaw, and filmmaker-producer Ashutosh Gowariker, filmmaker P. Sheshadri and author, Gopalakrishna Pai arrived.
The 71st National Film Awards, recognising excellence in Indian cinema for 2023, were announced on 1 August 2025 by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. The award ceremony is currently underway at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, where the President of India, Droupadi Murmu is conferring the honours.
The event is organised by the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) and features a structured jury system, with regional committees feeding into a central committee chaired by Ashutosh Gowariker for the Feature Film category. The awards aim to celebrate the artistic and technical achievements of Indian cinema without public bias, maintaining a formal presentation.
(IANS)
