The 68th National Film Awards have been announced by the Government of India during an event in New Delhi on July 22, Friday. Ten jury members headed by acclaimed filmmaker Vipul Shah submitted the report for the 2020 National Film Awards to Anurag Thakur (Minister of Information and Broadcasting). It has been announced that around 305 films were submitted in the feature films category, while 150 non-feature films are competing for the awards in 50 categories this year in 30 different languages. 

In that light, one Tamil film that had been speculated strongly to take home the big honors at the 2020 National Awards was Soorarai Pottru directed by Sudha Kongara and starring Suriya and Aparna Balamurali in the lead roles. The Best Actor National Award was won by Suriya, while Aparna Balamurali has been declared to be the Best Actress Award for their performances in Soorarai Pottru, which is based loosely on the life story of Air Deccan founder Captain G. R. Gopinath. Produced jointly by Suriya's 2D Entertainment and Guneet Monga's Sikhya Entertainment banners, the Tamil-language drama film has also won the Best Feature Film award, while director Sudha Kongara and Shalini Ushadevi have taken home the Best Screenplay Award. Composer G. V. Prakash Kumar has also won the Best Music Director (Background Music) award for his work in Soorarai Pottru and thus making it his maiden national accolade. 

Suriya's Soorarai Pottru has swept the 68th National Film Awards and the buzz for the film to bring home the honors had been speculated since it first had its direct premiere on Amazon Prime Video in November 2020 after the Covid-19 pandemic forced the team to skip a theatrical release. Apart from the praise coming in for the performances and the technical aspects of the film, Soorarai Pottru was also made available for screening at the 93rd Academy Awards.