Mumbai | Cinema veteran Anupam Kher said he was elated to see superstar Shah Rukh Khan win his first National Film Award for best actor, calling the honour long overdue.

At the 71st National Film Awards ceremony held on Wednesday, President Droupadi Murmu honoured SRK for his performance in the 2023 blockbuster “Jawan”.

He shared best actor honour with Vikrant Massey, who was rewarded for his performance in filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra's “12th Fail”.

“I am very happy for him, and personally happy that he finally got it after 40 years. You can imagine his disappointment — for 'Swades', he 100 per cent should have got the National Award.

"So many other performances, like 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge', went unrecognised. Each time he must have felt upset. So I am really glad he has finally received it,” Kher told PTI.

Kher has worked with Shah Rukh on multiple films, including "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge", "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai", "Mohabbatein", "Veer-Zaara" and "Paheli".

The 70-year-old said Shah Rukh Khan's win also represents a recognition of mainstream cinema at the National Awards.

"It is a very good thing because it is different from that narrative that you should do a special kind of film (to get a national award). I was very happy to see Karan Johar, Rani Mukerji and Shah Rukh Khan sitting together. It was a star-studded blockbuster National Award this year,” he added.

Kher said he also called Malayalam superstar Mohanlal to congratulate on being honoured with Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

"I called him up and said, 'Mohanlal, you are the youngest recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke award.' He said, ‘yes'. And it is amazing,” he said.