Posted:
National Film Award winners decide not to go for the awards presentation this evening as not all will be presented by the President as was promised by the I&B Ministry and has been the tradition.
NATIONAL FILM AWARDEES REVOLT, UNHAPPY PRESIDENT KOVIND WILL ONLY HAND OVER 11 AWARDS
By Roshmila Bhattacharya and Lakshmi Iyer, Mumbai Mirror | Updated: May 3, 2018, 09.16 AM IST
Winners peeved at news about President handing over only 11 awards; Smriti Irani and Rajyavardhan Rathore to hand over the rest.
The presentation of the National Film Awards today might well be a genteel affair, but the well-choreographed sequence and flow of the ceremony conceals a near revolt that took place on Wednesday during rehearsals for the event at Vigyan Bhavan, in New Delhi.
The awardees, who had congregated in the capital late in the afternoon on Wednesday, were in for a rude shock when they discovered that only 11 awards would be presented by President Ram Nath Kovind.
The rest of the awards, they learnt from a docket issued to them, would be handed over by Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Minister of State, Information & Broadcasting, and Narendra Kumar Sinha, Secretary, Information & Broadcasting.
According to the docket, Kovind would arrive at the venue at 5:30 pm, after Irani, Rathore and Sinha had presented the bulk of the awards between 3:30 pm and 5:30 pm. It was further conveyed that post the ceremony, the winners would get the customary photo-op with the President in groups of 45.
According to a source, many peeved winners threatened to boycott the ceremony, following which the director of the Directorate of Film Festivals, which organises the awards, asked them to air their grievances directly with Irani. Since the inception of the awards in 1954, winners have been felicitated by the President and departure from the 64-year tradition led to flared tempers. "The last minute change in schedule was an insult which every winner unanimously opposed. Everyone's upset and the mood is gloomy, said the source.
When the awardees met up with Irani, the source said that the I&B minister reasoned with them saying that the President had allotted only an hour for the ceremony, and that the organisers had to dial in ministers to hand over some of the other awards. "The awardees told her that the time allotted for speeches and photo-ops could be cut down, so that all the winners could be felicitated by the President himself, said the source.
The other option they gave to the minister was that she could present all the awards herself. "They were against differentiation of winners, and demarcation of awards was not acceptable to anybody and the threat of boycott was repeated, added the source.
When Mirror reached out to the I&B Ministry, an official confirmed that Irani would be presenting most of the awards and reiterated that the President had allotted only an hour for the ceremony.
"Handing out over 75 awards in various categories followed by photographs with every winner is time-consuming, said the I&B ministry official. A Rashtrapati Bhawan source told Mirror that this year the "President and Prime Minister have very hectic schedules.
The awardees' meeting with Irani ended with the minister telling them that she had contacted the President's office and would get back to them as soon as she heard back from Rashtrapati Bhavan. The awardees had not heard back from the I&B minister at the time of this newspaper going to press. "It has been verbally conveyed to them that they should be present at the Vigyan Bhavan by 3:15pm. It looks as if the awards will be held as per their wishes Irani will give out the awards until 5:30 pm, following which the President will arrive, the source added.
THE 11 AWARDS TO BE PRESENTED BY THE PRESIDENT
Dadasaheb Phalke Award: Vinod Khanna
Best Actress: Sridevi, Mom
Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration: Dhappa (Marathi)
Best Book on Cinema: Matamgi Manipur The First Manipuri Feature Film (English)
Best Direction: Nagraj Manjule, Pavasacha Nibandha
Best Jasari film: Sinjar
Best Male Playback Singer: KJ Yesudas, "Poy Maranja Kalam Viswasapoorvam Mansoor (Malayalam)
Best Music Direction (Songs): AR Rahman, Kaatru Veliyidai (Tamil) + Best Music Direction (Background score): Mom
Best Actor: Riddhi Sen, Nagarkirtan (Bengali)
Best Direction: Jayaraj, Bhayanakam (Malayalam)
Best Feature Film: Village Rockstars (Assamese) + Best Editing: Village Rockstars
The presentation of the National Film Awards today might well be a genteel affair, but the well-choreographed sequence and flow of the ceremony conceals a near revolt that took place on Wednesday during rehearsals for the event at Vigyan Bhavan, in New Delhi.
The awardees, who had congregated in the capital late in the afternoon on Wednesday, were in for a rude shock when they discovered that only 11 awards would be presented by President Ram Nath Kovind.
The rest of the awards, they learnt from a docket issued to them, would be handed over by Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Minister of State, Information & Broadcasting, and Narendra Kumar Sinha, Secretary, Information & Broadcasting.
According to the docket, Kovind would arrive at the venue at 5:30 pm, after Irani, Rathore and Sinha had presented the bulk of the awards between 3:30 pm and 5:30 pm. It was further conveyed that post the ceremony, the winners would get the customary photo-op with the President in groups of 45.
According to a source, many peeved winners threatened to boycott the ceremony, following which the director of the Directorate of Film Festivals, which organises the awards, asked them to air their grievances directly with Irani. Since the inception of the awards in 1954, winners have been felicitated by the President and departure from the 64-year tradition led to flared tempers. "The last minute change in schedule was an insult which every winner unanimously opposed. Everyone's upset and the mood is gloomy, said the source.
When the awardees met up with Irani, the source said that the I&B minister reasoned with them saying that the President had allotted only an hour for the ceremony, and that the organisers had to dial in ministers to hand over some of the other awards. "The awardees told her that the time allotted for speeches and photo-ops could be cut down, so that all the winners could be felicitated by the President himself, said the source.
The other option they gave to the minister was that she could present all the awards herself. "They were against differentiation of winners, and demarcation of awards was not acceptable to anybody and the threat of boycott was repeated, added the source.
When Mirror reached out to the I&B Ministry, an official confirmed that Irani would be presenting most of the awards and reiterated that the President had allotted only an hour for the ceremony.
"Handing out over 75 awards in various categories followed by photographs with every winner is time-consuming, said the I&B ministry official. A Rashtrapati Bhawan source told Mirror that this year the "President and Prime Minister have very hectic schedules.
The awardees' meeting with Irani ended with the minister telling them that she had contacted the President's office and would get back to them as soon as she heard back from Rashtrapati Bhavan. The awardees had not heard back from the I&B minister at the time of this newspaper going to press. "It has been verbally conveyed to them that they should be present at the Vigyan Bhavan by 3:15pm. It looks as if the awards will be held as per their wishes Irani will give out the awards until 5:30 pm, following which the President will arrive, the source added.
THE 11 AWARDS TO BE PRESENTED BY THE PRESIDENT
Dadasaheb Phalke Award: Vinod Khanna
Best Actress: Sridevi, Mom
Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration: Dhappa (Marathi)
Best Book on Cinema: Matamgi Manipur The First Manipuri Feature Film (English)
Best Direction: Nagraj Manjule, Pavasacha Nibandha
Best Jasari film: Sinjar
Best Male Playback Singer: KJ Yesudas, "Poy Maranja Kalam Viswasapoorvam Mansoor (Malayalam)
Best Music Direction (Songs): AR Rahman, Kaatru Veliyidai (Tamil) + Best Music Direction (Background score): Mom
Best Actor: Riddhi Sen, Nagarkirtan (Bengali)
Best Direction: Jayaraj, Bhayanakam (Malayalam)
Best Feature Film: Village Rockstars (Assamese) + Best Editing: Village Rockstars
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