Mumbai : Shilpa Rao won the 71st National Award on Tuesday for her outstanding contribution as a playback singer. President Droupadi Murmu presented the award at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.
The jury praised her work in the song ‘Chaleya’ from Shah Rukh Khan’s starrer ‘Jawan’.
Reacting to her win, Shilpa Rao said in a statement, “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.”
Known for her soulful voice and versatility across genres, Shilpa Rao debuted in 2006 and delivered several memorable songs. She has collaborated internationally and earned recognition with a Grammy nomination as part of the Berklee Indian Ensemble.
She is also celebrating the success of her latest releases, ‘Ul Jalool Ishq’ from Gustaakh Ishq and ‘Ghafoor’ from The B**ds of Bollywood*.
During the ceremony, Prakash Kumar received the Best Music Composer award for the film Vaathi.
The event started shortly after dignitaries, including the President, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, filmmaker-producer Ashutosh Gowariker, filmmaker P. Sheshadri, and author Gopalakrishna Pai, arrived.
The 71st National Film Awards recognized excellence in Indian cinema for 2023 and the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting announced the winners on 1 August 2025. The ceremony, organized by the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), features regional and central juries, with Ashutosh Gowariker chairing the Feature Film category. The awards celebrate artistic and technical achievements in Indian cinema while maintaining a formal, unbiased presentation.
–IANS
