Mohanlal, Shah Rukh, Rani Mukerji, Vikrant Massey conferred National Awards
New Delhi, Sep 23 (PTI): President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday conferred National Awards for acting to Shah Rukh Khan, Vikrant Massey and Rani Mukerji while Malayalam superstar Mohanlal was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke lifetime achievement award in a ceremony that doffed its hat to mainstream popular cinema.
Filmmakers Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who took home the best film prize for "12th Fail", and Karan Johar and Apoorva Mehra, who received the award for "Rocky Aur Rani Kii Kahaani" for best popular film providing wholesome entertainment, completed the starry ensemble at the 71st National Film Awards.
The best director award went to Sudipto Sen for "The Kerala Story".
The National Awards for 2023 were announced in August. It's the first National Award for friends and frequent collaborators Shah Rukh and Rani as well as for Vikrant. While Shah Rukh got it for his role in "Jawan", sharing his win with "12th Fail" star Vikrant, Rani bagged it for "Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway".
There were whistles and loud cheers as Rani and Shah Rukh went up to receive their awards at the traditionally sober ceremony. Mohanlal, recognised for a remarkable career spanning five decades and more than 360 films, got a standing ovation from the crowd gathered at the city's Vigyan Bhawan.
"I got to know that when Mohanlal's name was announced for Dadasaheb Phalke, there was wave of happiness among people. It shows that he has made a space for himself in countless people's heart," the president said in her address after the award ceremony.
"He has presented the softest of the soft and toughest of the tough emotions quite naturally," Murmu added in a speech in which she congratulated all the winners and touched on various issues, including the plurarity of Indian cinema, Indian sensibility and women-centric films.
"Now we see women in many places in cinema like actors and producers. I have seen films about mothers, women uniting against societal wrongs, and strong women who raise their voices. I salute these filmmakers on behalf of sisters and daughters.
Please thank your crews for your success, they are behind it,' she said.
Just like Indian literature is created in various Indian languages, the president said, Indian cinema is advancing in so many languages, dialects, regions and local environments.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw spoke of the Make in India initiative of the government.
"Equipment used in the film industry such as big cameras... should be made in India. We will be started a programme on this soon," he said. The minister also stressed on the need to create a live concert economy with proper policy support, uniform guidelines and easy permissions.
As the recipient of the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke, Mohanlal was the only awardee who spoke.
He said he was deeply humbled to be the youngest recipient, and "only the second ever" from the state to be bestowed with this national recognition.
"This moment is not mine alone. It belongs to the entire Malayalam cinema fraternity. I see this award as a collective tribute to our industry, legacy, creativity and resilience," added the 65-year-old movie legend known for landmark films such as “Iruvar”, “Vanaprastham”, “Pulimurugan” and “Drishyam”.
Hindi cinema dominated the awards in the main categories.
Among those presented awards were Meghna Gulzar and Ronnie Screwvala for the biopic on Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw "Sam Bahadur", the best film promoting national, social and environmental values.
Vaibhavi Merchant won the best choreography award for "Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani" song "Dhindhora Baaje". Shilpa Rao was named best female playback singer for "Jawan" track "Chaleya".
Sanya Malhotra-starrer "Kathal: A Jackfruit Mystery" was named the best Hindi film.
Regional movies were recognised in categories such as best supporting actor and actress and in technical segments.
The best supporting actor trophy was shared by Vijayaraghavan for Malayalam film "Pookalam" and Muthupettai Somu Bhaskar for Tamil film "Parking".
The best supporting actress honour went to Urvashi for the Malayalam movie "Ullozhokku" and Janki Bodiwala for Gujarati title "Vash". Both movies won best films in their respective language segments.
Ashish Bende bagged the award for best debut film of a director for Marathi film "Aatmapamphlet".
The best film in AVGC (animation, visual effects, gaming & comic) went to Telugu film "Hanu-Man", which also won the best action direction award.
"Animal", another Hindi blockbuster of 2023, won awards for best sound design, best music director (background music) and a special mention for re-recording mixer.
The National Award for best screenplay was shared between Telugu movie "Baby" and Tamil film "Parking". "Baby" singer PVN S Rohit was recognised as the best male playback singer for the song "Premisthunna".
The best music director for songs went to G V Prakash for Tamil movie "Vaathi". Kasarla Shyam was named best lyricist for Telugu movie "Balagam" song 'Ooru Palleturu".
Deepak Kingrani was named best dialogue writer for the Manoj Bajpayee-fronted Hindi film "Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai". The best editing prize went to Malayalam title "Pookkaalam" and production design to another Malayalam movie "2018".
Sukriti Veni Bandreddi ("Gandhi Tatha Chettu"), Kabir Khandare ("Gypsy") and "Naal 2" cast members Treesha Thosar, Shrinivas Pokale, and Bhargav Jagtap were recognised in the best child artists category. "Naal 2" was also named best children's film.
In the language film categories, the winners were -- "Rongatapu 1982" (Assamese), "Deep Fridge" (Bengali), "Parking" (Tamil), "Kandeelu" (Kannada), "Shamchi Aai" (Marathi), "Puskara" (Odia), "Godday Godday Chaa" (Punjabi) and "Bhagavanth Kesari" (Telugu).
The winners for various non-feature categories were also announced with Hindi movie "Flowering Man" being named the best film, while the best documentary went to "God Vulture and Human". The best director award was bagged by Piyush Thakur for "The First Film" and the best script went to Chidananda Nayak's Kannada short film "Sunflowers were the First Ones to Know".
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Texas halts H-1B visas at state universities, agencies; to affect Indians
Houston (US) (PTI): Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered state agencies and public universities to immediately halt new H-1B visa petitions, tightening hiring rules at taxpayer-funded institutions, a step likely to impact Indian professionals.
The freeze will remain in effect through May 2027.
The directive issued on Tuesday said that the state agencies and public universities must stop filing new petitions unless they receive written approval from the Texas Workforce Commission.
The governor's order, in a red state that is home to thousands of H-1B visa holders, comes as the Trump administration has initiated steps to reshape the visa programme.
“In light of recent reports of abuse in the federal H-1B visa programme, and amid the federal government’s ongoing review of that programme to ensure American jobs are going to American workers, I am directing all state agencies to immediately freeze new H-1B visa petitions as outlined in this letter,” Abbot said.
Institutions must also report on H-1B usage, including numbers, job roles, countries of origin, and visa expiry dates, the letter said.
US President Donald Trump on September 19 last year signed a proclamation ‘Restriction on entry of certain non-immigrant workers’ that restricted the entry into the US of those workers whose H-1B petitions are not accompanied or supplemented by a payment of USD 1,00,000.
The H1-B visa fee of USD 1,00,000 would be applicable only to new applicants, i.e. all new H-1B visa petitions submitted after September 21, including those for the FY2026 lottery.
Indians make up an estimated 71 per cent of all approved H-1B applications in recent years, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), with China in the second spot. The major fields include technology, engineering, medicine, and research.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the second-highest beneficiary with 5,505 approved H-1B visas in 2025, after Amazon (10,044 workers on H-1B visas), according to the USCIS. Other top beneficiaries include Microsoft (5,189), Meta (5,123), Apple (4,202), Google (4,181), Deloitte (2,353), Infosys (2,004), Wipro (1,523) and Tech Mahindra Americas (951).
Texas public universities employ hundreds of foreign faculty and researchers, many from India, across engineering, healthcare, and technology fields.
Date from Open Doors -- a comprehensive information resource on international students and scholars studying or teaching at higher education institutions in the US -- for 2022-2023 showed 2,70,000 students from India embarked on graduate and undergraduate degrees in US universities, accounting for 25 per cent of the international student population in the US and 1.5 per cent of the total student population.
Indian students infuse roughly USD 10 billion annually into universities and related businesses across the country through tuition and other expenses – while also creating around 93,000 jobs, according to the Open Doors data.
Analysts warn the freeze could slow recruitment of highly skilled professionals, affecting academic research and innovation.
Supporters say the directive protects local jobs, while critics caution it could weaken Texas’ competitiveness in higher education and research.
The order comes amid broader debate in the US over skilled immigration and state-level interventions in federal programmes.
H-1B visas allow US companies to hire technically-skilled professionals that are not easily available in America. Initially granted for three years, these can be extended for another three years.
In September 2025, Trump had also signed an executive order ‘The Gold Card’, aimed at setting up a new visa pathway for those committed to supporting the United States; with individuals who can pay USD 1 million to the US Treasury, or USD 2 million if a corporation is sponsoring them, to get access to expedited visa treatment and a path to a Green Card.
