look news india
This time, an epoch-making and unprecedented change is going to be seen in the history of the most prestigious honor of Indian cinema, ‘National Film Awards’. This grand ceremony has been held at Vigyan Bhawan in the national capital New Delhi for more than 70 years, but this decades-old tradition is going to be broken in the 72nd edition. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has officially announced that the 72nd National Film Awards will be held on September 22 at Ekta Nagar (Statue of Unity Complex) in Kevadiya, Gujarat. The decision to move the prestigious event out of the capital to another state in the country has sparked a new heated debate in the political and cinematic circles of the country. At the same time, veteran Bollywood actor and former MP Paresh Rawal has expressed strong objection to the voices being raised against this decision and has given a befitting reply to the critics.
When news agency ANI asked actor Paresh Rawal to react to the questions being raised by some political parties and filmmakers over the shifting of the National Film Awards from Delhi to Gujarat, he got very angry. Paresh Rawal asked the question in a harsh tone, “So what? Is Gujarat in Bangladesh or Pakistan? It is also an integral part of our country. Why should this grand and national event not be held in Gujarat? Such big events should definitely be held in Gujarat too. I say that instead of being limited to just one city, such prestigious events should be held in every state of the country one by one, there is nothing bad or wrong in it.”
Paresh Rawal further gave the example of Republic Day and said that formalities like the parade of 26th January take place in the national capital Delhi, but national events related to art, culture and cinema should travel all over India so that people from every region can get the honor of being associated with it. Taking aim at the protesters, he said that the work of some politicians is to find out the pros and cons in every positive change and raise questions.
As soon as the Central Government announced to organize the 72nd National Film Awards in Kevadiya, Gujarat, many regional leaders and people associated with Bollywood started raising questions on it.
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Opposition of Raj Thackeray and MNS: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray directly questioned the intentions of the central government. He said what is the real reason for moving the National Film Awards from Delhi to Gujarat? If this ceremony had to be shifted out of the national capital, then why was it not brought to Mumbai, which is the birthplace of Indian cinema and the economic and cultural capital.
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Filmmakers’ objection: Some other filmmakers, including director Rahul Dholakia, also raised questions as to why only Gujarat was being given priority, ignoring states that have shaped Indian cinema (like Maharashtra, West Bengal or South India).
The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has shared its clear policy on this entire controversy and criticism. According to the ministry, the decision is part of a planned national initiative to integrate the country’s regional, cultural and linguistic diversity into the mainstream. The ministry says that glorious national level events cannot be confined to the rooms and auditoriums of Lutyens Delhi alone.
This event, in the presence of the ‘Statue of Unity’, the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Kevadiya (Ekta Nagar), Gujarat, will truly give shape to the national resolve of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’. According to the future plan of the government, in the coming years, the stage of National Film Awards will also be held on rotation basis in different states of the country (like North-East, South and East India).
The National Film Awards were established in the year 1954, when Indian films were honored for the first time with the laurels of the then President Dr. Rajendra Prasad. At that time these were called ‘State Awards for Films’. The great Marathi film ‘Shyamchi Aai’, released in 1953, received the gold medal for the country’s first best feature film.
Since then till the 71st edition, this prestigious ceremony has always been held in the national capital, New Delhi, where the President of India hands over medals and citations to the winners. Therefore, its moving out of Delhi to some other state in the 72nd year is being considered the biggest historical and structural change after independence.
A wonderful confluence of linguistic diversity of Indian cinema will be seen in this 72nd festival to be held on 22nd September in Kevadiya:
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Best Actor (Joint Winner): Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan will be jointly awarded the Best Actor in a Leading Role award for his extraordinary physical and emotional performance in the film ‘Chandu Champion’, and veteran Malayalam actor Mammootty for his unique performance in the horror-drama ‘Brahmayugam’. This will be the fourth National Award in Mammootty’s career.
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Best Feature Film and Best Actress: The film ‘Article 370’ will be awarded the title of Best Feature Film. Yami Gautam, who played the role of a brave intelligence officer in this film, will receive the National Award for Best Actress in Leading Role.
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Best Debut Director: Actor Randeep Hooda will be given the Best Debut Director award for his directorial debut period-biopic ‘Swatantrya Veer Savarkar’.
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Best Hindi Film: The film ‘Srikanth’, based on the life of visually impaired industrialist Shrikant Bolla and starring Rajkumar Rao, has been chosen as the best Hindi film.
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Dominance of regional and mainstream cinema: For the first time, along with Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Garhwali, Tulu, a Santhali film will also be honored in the non-feature film category. Apart from this, blockbuster films like ‘Kalki 2898 AD’, ‘Amaran’, ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’ and ‘Stree 2’ will also be awarded in various technical and artistic categories.
Paresh Rawal’s frank statement and this step of the Central Government have given a clear message that symbols of national importance are no longer the inheritance of any one geographical boundary or city. This festival, which is going to be held in Kevadiya, Gujarat, will not only give a new and grand platform to the artists of Indian cinema, but will also prove helpful in giving a new identity to the rich culture and tourism of different parts of the country at the global level.