Aamir Khan's Dangal wins big at the prestigious ACTA Awards; Praises Russell Crowe!

Dangal, the wrestling drama based on the life of Indian wrestler Mahavir Phogat and his daughters, is one of the most successful films of Indian cinema. The film broke records and became the highest grossing film at the domestic as well as international markets. Now, this Nitesh Tiwari's directorial won the Best Asian Film Award at the seventh Australian Academy of Cinema & Television Arts (AACTA) Awards.

Actress Sakshi Tanwar who played a key role in the film as Aamir Khan's wife, was present at the award function and collected the trophy on behalf of the team. The movie also stars actresses Fatima Sana Sheikh, Sanya Malhotra, Suhani Bhatnagar, and Zaira Wasim among others in key roles.

Veteran actor Shabana Azmi, who served as one of the jury members on the panel for this year's inaugural category, took to Twitter and praised the film:

"'Dangal' wins Best Asian Film at AACTA. Congratulations Team Dangal. With Russel Crowe chairman of the jury. It was a unanimous decision."

Veteran star Anupam Kher who was also part of the jury wrote: "Happy and proud that @aamir_khan’s #Dangal got the #BestAsianFilm award at @AACTA. It was a privilege to be on the jury headed by @russellcrowe. Congratulations to the entire team.:)"

The honorable jury was led by the Hollywood actor Russell Crowe. He lauded the film saying: "A huge task being the Grand Jury President for the inaugural @AACTA Asian film award. 9 amazing nominees. Such an honour to be on the stage tonight announcing the Indian film #Dangal as the winner . A beautiful & empowering film, see it !!"

Along with "Dangal", "Pink" and Marathi film "Kasav: Turtle" were among the nine films which were nominated for the inaugural AACTA Best Asian Film award. Young actor Sunny Pawar also won big at the award night.