New Delhi: When the winners of 61st National Awards were announced on Wednesday evening, I was quite sure that there will be quite a few rants on my Twitter timeline for the jury had ignored some extremely deserving work last year. Knowing the nature of most armchair critics (we all are, aren't we?) who love to opine on social networking sites, I was actually surprised to find praises for the jury and its decision after the winners were announced.
The high point of the National Film Awards this year has got to be the nod that Hansal Mehta got for his film 'Shahid'. A poignant film based on slain lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi, the film was in the making for a while. Reportedly Hansal Mehta, who made a comeback to direction after five years with the film, had initially found it difficult to find a producer for the film which was eventually produced by Anurag Kashyap. A startling tale of reality, the film also made people sit up and notice a brilliant actor called Rajkummar Rao, who may have got noticed in films like 'Love Sex Aur Dhoka', 'Ragini MMS' and 'Shaitaan', but got people talking about his talent post this film. Both Hansla Mehta and Rajkummar Rao, who both made 'Shahid' an honest, riveting tale, were adjudged as Best Director and Best Actor at this year's National Awards.
Surprisingly, Anurag Kashyap's other film, Ritesh Batra's directorial debut 'The Lunchbox' was blindly ignored by the jury. The film had last year created quite an uproar when it was not selected by the Film Federation in India for India's official entry at the Oscars, was believed to be a strong contender at the National Awards. Most hoped that even though the film, which has been lapping awards and adulation in the country as well as overseas, may have been ignored during the Oscars, it would definitely get its due credit at the National Film Awards. In fact, when the controversy broke out last year, filmmaker Gautam Ghose who headed the committee which chose Gujarati film 'The Good Road' over 'The Lunchbox' for Oscars stated that Ritesh Batra's film was a strong contender yet missed out as the Gujarati film represented India in an all new way.
Another surprise- though a pleasant one- was the jury's nod to Subhash Kapoor's satire 'Jolly LLB'. The film highlighted the inept, slow judiciary that our country has slowly accepted and how the flause does not only lie in the judiciary but also at an individual level. The film was adjudged as the Best Hindi film of 2013 by the jury and actor Saurabh Shukla's humorous yet pertinent portrayal of a judge got him the Best Supporting Actor award.
But while 'Shahid' and 'Jolly LLB' got its due credit, some were disappointed with the Jury's choice for Best Popular Film providing wholesome entertainment. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' may have been a popular film of 2013, but in terms of Box Office returns and popularity, several other films in South were way ahead. Surely, when one is considering films from across the country, one should ideally take in account films from all regions. It was equally baffeling to see that while Hansal Mehta got the Best Director award, the film 'Shahid' was not given the Best Film award- instead it went to Anand Gandhi's 'Ship Of Theseus'. While no one doubts the brilliance of 'Ship of Theseus', it was a bit unfair to honour a director for his work in a particular film but not the film itself.
Over the years, National Awards has perhaps leaned a bit more towards Hindi films while regional films get sidelined in the main categories. Sure, Bengali film 'Jatishwar' has dominated the music categories and Malayalam actor Suraj Venjaramoodu shares the Best Actor award with Rao this year, but representation in certain categories is catering to Bollywood.
Though a film like 'The Lunchbox' was blatantly ignored, it was heartening to see deserving films like 'Ship Of Theseus', 'Jolly LLB', 'Shahid', Marathi film 'Fandry', Bengali film 'Jatishwar' get its due credit. And it has so far been a smooth, non-controversial verdict with most applauding (for a change) the jury's verdict. Let's just hope next year, there is more representation of regional cinema in popular categories and more filmmakers are encouraged to narrated good stories.
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