INDIA. Nagpur: The star-studded night of the 68th Filmfare Awards kick-started with Bollywood celebs bringing their A-game to the event. Salman Khan hosted the award show with his Dabangg style. In the heart of a Bollywood-centered event, Marathi filmmaker Nagraj Manjule’s Hindi debut feature Jhund (2022) left its golden impression.
Manjule’s sports biopic drama bagged a major title at the Filmfare Awards. Nagpur’s Ankush Gedam received the Best Debut (Male) award for his leading performance in the Amitabh Bachchan starrer featurette.
Filmfare’s official Twitter handle announced the news. The tweet read, “Congratulations! The Filmfare Award for Best Debut (Male) goes to #AnkushGedam for #Jhund at the 68th #HyundaiFilmfareAwards 2023 with #MaharashtraTourism.”
Ankush shared a picture of him holding the award on his Instagram handle. The actor wrote, “Best Day of My Life. It’s a Dream Come True Moment For Me. Thank you @nagraj_manjule @bhushanmanjule @gargeekulkarni giving me this wonderful opportunity and believing in me and encouraging me. Thank you for always being there.”
“Thank you Jhund team, @aatpatproduction camera crew for all the love and support. It wouldn’t have been possible without you. Thanks to my Parents, my family, my friends for Inspiring Me Always. Thank you guys, our audience for giving so much love to our JHUND,” he further wrote. Click here to check out the post.
Nagraj Manjule congratulated the award-winning actor on his Instagram handle. The filmmaker posted a photo of Gedam from the film with the caption, “Congratulations”.
Ankush Gedam’s Journey: A struggling boy from Nagpur to Filmfare Award winner
Ankush played the lead role in Nagraj Manjule’s Jhund, besides Amitabh Bachchan. The film narrated the life of Vijay Barse, who founded an NGO named “Slum Soccer”. The sports biopic debuted on March 4, 2022, and since then, it has bagged loads of critical acclaim. Critics praised the film for its realistic approach to the storyline and the talented ensemble cast.
Though every actor in the film has given their best, Ankush Gedam outshined with his hard-hitting performance as Ankush Masram aka Don. Moviegoers also loved his role in the film for his dialogue delivery with Nagpuri slang.
This award-winning on-screen performance has an interesting off-screen story. In an interview with the media, Ankush talked about how he got the role of Don in Jhund.
“During the Ganpati immersion procession, I was dancing. Then Bhushan Manjule, the brother of Nagaraj, recorded photos and videos of me. I questioned his motives for photographing me. Then they phoned me for an audition and said we are going to make a short movie,” he said.
“Sir picked me while I was nervously dancing and sporting a large wig with fake hair on my head and a jersey-bermuda. I didn’t want to act, though. I was getting ready to apply for police recruitment, but fortunately, I got the role and became a Don,” he added.
Besides Ankush Gedam winning the prestigious award, the Best Debut (Female) was bagged by Andrea Kevichusa for her role of Aido in Ayushmaan Khurrana starrer Anek. Jaspal Singh Sandhu and Rajeev Barnwal won the Best Debut Director award for Vadh.
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