The 70th National Film Awards honored the best of Indian cinema right from actors, directors, and movies for the year 2022. The winners of the prestigious awards were announced on August 16 at National Media Center in New Delhi and the ceremony will be held later. Filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya won the National Film Award for Best Director for Uunchai. He expressed his gratitude saying his journey in cinema is far from over and there are many more stories to be told.

Sooraj Barjatya has delivered some iconic and remarkable movies in Hindi Cinema. He owns credits for directing family dramas like Hum Saath-Saath Hain and Vivah among others. His recent directorial film was Uunchaai after seven years. Winning Best Director National Award Barjatya recalled the time when Hum Aapke Hain Koun...! was honored with National Award for best popular film providing wholesome entertainment.

Sooraj Barjatya said, "I’m humbled to be honoured amongst the best that the country has seen in cinema during 2022. It takes me back 30 years when ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun’ won the National Award for best film. The rush and happiness that I felt as a young director then was crazy! But today, as I get the National Award for best director for ‘Uunchai’, there is a sense of gratitude and calmness. The joy and happiness are much more internal today! As a director, my job for the last 35 years has been to keep telling stories. And I'm not done yet, there's much more to come.”

He further added, "I feel I have truly climbed Mount Everest today. This immense recognition belongs to my entire team of senior actors and technicians, who fought the pandemic and shot at unheard locations with me. Our National Film Awards unite our industry because they are a celebration of films made in every language.”

The filmmaker dedicated the award to Rajshri family, saying “I would like to dedicate this award to Rajshri Productions and to all my elders in the family, under whom we continue to learn, to tell stories which can be inspiring, happy, and which help us trust each other and the power of goodness.”

Uunchai is the story of elderly friends embarking on a trek to fulfill the last wish of one of their friends who passed away. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Danny Denzongpa, Neena Gupta, Sarika, and Parineeti Chopra in lead roles. The film was released in November 2022.