Tamil film Soorarai Pottru (2020) which was the first major Kollywood biggie to release directly on OTT amidst the pandemic, recently bagged five National film awards (full list of winners), that are presented by the Indian government. This included 'Best Actor' for Suriya, who is also the producer of the movie and 'Best Screenplay' for Sudha Kongara who based her directorial on Air Deccan founder GR Gopinath's biography Simply Fly. 

Among the wishes that came in Suriya-Sudha Kongara's way was also that of Rajinikanth's who took to twitter to write, "#NationalFilmAwards My heartiest congratulations and appreciation to Suriya who has won the National Film Award, to Soorarai Pottru film director and all the award-winning film artists."

#NationalFilmAwards தேசிய திரைப்பட விருது பெற்றிருக்கும் சூர்யாவுக்கும் @Suriya_offl , சூரரைப் போற்று பட இயக்குநர் மற்றும் விருது பெறும் திரையுலகக் கலைஞர்கள் அனைவருக்கும் என்னுடைய மனமார்ந்த வாழ்த்துகளும், பாராட்டுகளும்

— Rajinikanth (@rajinikanth) July 23, 2022

Post the multiple win by team Soorarai Pottru, filmmaker Sudha Kongara was quoted by India Today as stating, "I feel fantastic that a mainstream film is getting a National Award. It feels damn good and feels like I have done something good. It is like a validation..I feel gratified, validated. I feel I was fortunate to get this pool of talent. It was a collaborative effort, filmmaking is the most collaborative process in the world. Each one is best in the work and best in what they do and getting award for what they did. In the end it is peace,"

68th National Film Awards: Congrats @Suriya_offl & team

Best Feature Film - #SooraraiPottru
Best Actor - #Suriya [& Ajay Devgn]
Best Actress - @Aparnabala2
Best Screenplay - Shalini Usha Nair & #SudhaKongara
Best Background Score - @gvprakash https://t.co/FU72TmWbp1 pic.twitter.com/ZbLe2s5Nkq

— MovieCrow (@MovieCrow) July 22, 2022

Soorarai Pottru's female lead Aparna Balamurali, music composer GV Prakash, film's writer Shalini Usha Nair are the other team members who took home a National Film Award each.