Kevadia, Gujarat2 minutes ago
The 72nd National Film Awards ceremony is being held in Gujarat on 22 September. For the first time in history, the ceremony is being held in Kevadia, Gujarat, near the Statue of Unity, instead of Delhi’s Vigyan Bhavan, sparking controversy. Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray have criticised the decision. Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction) MP Sanjay Raut has appealed to artists to boycott the ceremony.
Amid the controversy, preparations for the ceremony are being completed. Kartik Aaryan has received the Best Actor National Award for ‘Chandu Champion’, while Mammootty has received it for ‘Bramayugam’, and they have arrived in Gujarat for the ceremony. Yami Gautam will receive the Best Actress award for ‘Article 370’, while ‘Srikanth’ will be awarded Best Hindi Film and ‘Article 370’ will receive the Best Feature Film award. The winners were announced on 18 July. President Droupadi Murmu will present the awards today.
Before the 72nd National Film Awards ceremony, find out about the list of winners, the controversy surrounding the ceremony, its history, and interesting facts and anecdotes related to it.
Controversy over the ceremony being held in Gujarat instead of New Delhi-
Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray strongly condemned the National Awards ceremony being held in Gujarat instead of New Delhi. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, meanwhile, has appealed to artists to boycott the event.
Objecting to the decision, Raj Thackeray wrote, “Why was this necessary after all? After attempts to undermine the importance of Mumbai, the country’s financial capital, is there now an attempt to gradually diminish the significance of Delhi, the country’s capital, as well?”
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said this was not an event connected to Gujarat but the National Film Awards, so why was its venue chosen in Gujarat? It should have been held in the capital, as has been the practice for the past several years. He also appealed to other celebrities not to attend the event and to boycott it.
Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerji won National Awards last year
Shah Rukh Khan won the National Award for Best Actor last year for Jawan, after a 40-year career. Along with him, Vikrant Massey also received the Best Actor award for 12th Fail. Rani Mukerji was chosen Best Actress for Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway.
Mohanlal received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award last year; Anant Nag receives it this year
Veteran actor Anant Nag will be honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his contribution to Indian cinema at the 72nd National Film Awards ceremony.
Born on 4 September 1948, Anant Nag (Anant Nagarkatte) is one of the most respected and veteran actors in Kannada cinema. During his long career, he has acted in more than 300 films, including over 250 Kannada films.
Besides Kannada, Anant Nag has also worked in films in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Malayalam and English. He appeared in both parts of Kannada superstar Yash’s blockbuster film KGF.
Read these stories related to the National Award too-
Raj Kapoor arrived to receive the award wearing an oxygen mask; he was given the President’s ambulance
In 1972, Prithviraj Kapoor was posthumously honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. His son, Raj Kapoor, attended the award ceremony held on 2 May 1988 to receive it on his behalf. Raj Kapoor was so seriously ill that he sat through the ceremony with an oxygen cylinder and wearing a mask. When Prithviraj Kapoor’s name was announced, Raj Kapoor’s condition deteriorated so much that he was unable to get up from his chair. President R. Venkataraman therefore broke ceremony protocol and personally went to Raj Kapoor’s chair to present him with the award.
Raj Kapoor suffered an asthma attack during the ceremony shortly afterwards. President R. Venkataraman gave him his car to take him to hospital immediately. Raj Kapoor was admitted to Delhi’s AIIMS. He died on 2 June 1988 after undergoing treatment for two months. His daughter Reema recounted this incident in an interview with Filmfare.
Controversy erupted after the film Black won the National Award
At the 53rd National Film Awards, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film Black received the National Award for Best Feature Film (Hindi). The film was inspired by the story of the Hollywood film The Miracle Worker. According to the rules of the National Awards, no adapted film can receive an award. In this case, Deb Banerjee, who was a member of the jury, alleged that the film had been given the award out of favouritism.
Deb Banerjee had also filed a petition, although no action was taken. Black won three National Awards, including Best Feature Film (Hindi), Best Actor (Amitabh Bachchan) and Best Costume Design (Sabyasachi Mukherjee).
Allegations of Bias at the Awards Ceremony
There was controversy that year as well after Rahul Dholakia was awarded Best Director for Parzania, Sarika was given Best Actress, and Pradeep Sarkar received the Best Director Debut award for Parineeta. Kolkata-based critic and jury member Deb Banerjee filed a petition against the awards in the Delhi High Court. He alleged that the awards in these categories had been given through favouritism.
Kiron Kher’s National Award was mired in controversy
Kiron Kher was given the Best Actress National Award for the Bengali film Bariwali. The nomination form submitted for the film stated that Kiron Kher had dubbed her own voice. Dubbing artist and actress Rita Koiral alleged that she had dubbed Kiron Kher’s dialogues in Bengali, but this was not mentioned in the nomination form.
At the 65th National Awards ceremony, 68 winners refused to attend
The 65th National Award ceremony was embroiled in controversy after 68 winners did not attend. The invitation cards sent to the winners stated that they would receive their awards from President Ram Nath Kovind. However, when rehearsals for the ceremony began, they were told that only 11 of the 107 winners would receive their awards from the President. The remaining winners would receive their awards from Smriti Irani, the then Information and Broadcasting Minister. Angered by this, 68 winners refused to attend the ceremony. Shabana Azmi holds the record for winning the most National Awards
Actress Shabana Azmi holds the record for winning the most National Awards to date. She has won the National Award for Best Actress five times for the films Ankur, Arth, Kandhar, Paar and Godmother.
Smita Patil created history by winning the National Award
Smita Patil won the National Award for Best Actress for the 1977 film ‘Bhumika’. She was just 25 years old at the time. She still holds the record for winning the Best Actress award at the youngest age.
Also read these facts from the history of the National Awards-
- In 1970, no film was found eligible in the Best Non-Feature Film category, so no film received an award in this category.
- Awards were not given in five categories at the 54th National Film Awards. The jury believed it had not found suitable films for the five categories.
- Until 2000, masala films were not given National Awards, which was why Amitabh Bachchan’s blockbuster film Zanjeer did not receive any award.
- Saif Ali Khan received the National Award for Best Actor for the film Hum Tum for 2004, while Shah Rukh Khan’s film Swades was released in the same year. Several people therefore questioned the award. At an award ceremony, Shah Rukh himself said that he should have received the National Award for Swades instead of Saif.
- Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan and Mohanlal have four Best Actor awards each.
- A.R. Rahman has six National Awards for Best Music Direction and one for Sound Direction.
- Prithviraj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor are the only father-and-son family members to have been honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.
