MUMBAI: Director of the film Lahore, Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan has won the Indira Gandhi Award For Best Debut Film at the 57th National Film Awards function.

The award was handed to him by the President of India, Pratibha Devisingh Patil in a in New Delhi on 22 Oct, 2010. Sanjay whose first film Lahore, has already won many International Awards, was honored with a Swarna Kamal and a cash prize of Rs 1,25,000.

Actor Farooq Sheikh also received Best Supporting Actor award for the same film.

Sanjay said, “This is a very special moment for me. I am honored and deeply touch by getting the National Award for Lahore. It is the ultimate encouragement and faith in the first movie I made. I am glad that Lahore with its simple storyline won the heart of the international and national audience. I hope that I keep up with the expectations of everyone in the future. Though, it is going to take some time to sink in the fact that I have won a National Award for my first attempt in the field that I truly love.”

Lahore has previously won Best Feature Film Jury’s Award at the 42nd World Fest (Houston), Most Aspiring Filmmaker at International Filmmaker Fest (UK), Best Actor Award at Salento International Film Festival (Italy), Best Actor Award at Tenerife International Film Festival Award (UK) and six nominations including Best Picture and Best Director at Asian Fest of First Film (Singapore).