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CINEMA: NATIONAL FILM AWARD
The Jury Is Out On This
Another year. Another controversy. But this time,
it has turned into no-holds-barred affair in the public domain.
By Methil Renuka and Himanshi Dhawan
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NOTHING AMISS: Bali says the
selection was democratic |
There's a taint
on the silver screen. And for once, the film industry, where scandal is
never in short supply, isn't being held responsible. Last week, shortly
before the 17-member National Film Awards jury was to announce the list
of winners for the year 2000, two members quit, alleging that "a
political cartel had turned the awards into a farce". What followed
was a flood of charges and counter-charges about lobbying and saffronisation
of the awards. Were the nation's highest film awards "rigged"?
Was the selection process "questionable"? Do the winners have
any reason to celebrate?
The drama unfolded during the jury's final round
of deliberations on March 26 in Delhi. Earlier, for more than 20 days,
four jury panels, consisting of four members each, had sat through the
screening of the 128 entries and submitted their recommendations to a
central panel headed by jury chairperson and former actress Vyjayanthimala
Bali. As in the past, jury members were not unanimous in their verdict
and often votes had to be cast to separate the winners from the losers.
The difference this time, however, lay in the fact that the cracks in
the jury came out in the open. Delhi-based filmmaker Pradip Krishen-writer
Arundhati Roy's husband-demanded to know why some films that were "unanimously
rejected" by all members of the panel that had seen them were being
recalled in the final round.
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SAFFRON 'SUSPECTS' |
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TARUN VIJAY: Editor of the RSS mouthpiece Panchajanya. Sushma
Swaraj says he is a film critic who has worked with filmmakers like
Basu Bhattacharya.
SHASHI RANJAN: Producer of TV talk show hosted by BJP MP
Shatrughan Sinha.
NIVEDITA PRADHAN: BJP MLA from Cuttack, Orissa.
PARVATHY INDUSHEKHAR: Advocate based in Bellary, Karnataka,
who was campaign manager for Swaraj in the last Lok Sabha elections.
PAWAN KUMAR: Mumbai-based TV producer. Also a friend of
Sinha.
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The division was further accentuated when four
films which had been rejected in the initial rounds but were subsequently
recalled went on to bag some of the prestigious awards. Among them were
Daman, which fetched Raveena Tandon the award for the best actress, and
Pukar, which won best film on national integration and the best actor
award for its hero Anil Kapoor. "There were clearly pressure groups
building up," claims an angry Krishen. "A cabal of eight jury
members had pre-judged the awards. I walked out because I refused to be
a rubber stamp to their decisions." Two other dissenters were Kolkata-based
cinematographer Shashi Anand and Odissi danseuse Madhumita Raut, who was
on the panel that first rejected Daman. Says Raut: "It's a joke to
call it the President's awards."
Both Bali, a former Congress MP who is now with
the BJP, and Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj rubbish
the dissenters' version. Bali defended the re-inclusion of films initially
rejected, saying this was not unusual in the National Film Awards. "It
happens all the time. If they had differences, why did they wait 20 days
to voice them? Why did they participate in the process?" Bali and
officials of the Directorate of Film Festival maintain that the selection
process was a "democratic one in which consensus and majority count".
Swaraj also rejected charges of a saffronised jury, saying "only
four of the 17-member jury were close to the BJP".
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| SURPRISE: An earlier reject, Daman won Raveena
an award |
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"A political cartel
had turned the awards into a farce. So I walked out. "
Pradip Krishen, filmmaker |
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There were other friction points. It was alleged
that screen villain and Raveena's maternal uncle Mac Mohan, who was on
the jury, had much to do with her selection as best actress. Mohan, however,
insists that he abstained from casting this particular vote. But says
Krishen: "Clause 21A of the regulations of the National Film Awards
states that any person related by blood or marriage to any of those whose
work is to be adjudged shall not be eligible to serve on these jury panels."
Bali has no answers. "That's not my concern," she shrugs. "That's
for the festival directorate to address."
The National Film Awards have never been short
of controversy. As late as 1997, the jury headed by T. Subbirami Reddy,
then a Congress MP, gave the best actor award to Kamal Haasan, though
among the fellow jurists was the actor's elder brother Charu Haasan. Last
year, controversy surfaced again over the decision to give the best actress
award to Kiron Kher for the film Bariwali. It was later alleged that her
dialogues in Bengali were dubbed by TV actress Reeta Kayral and had not
even been acknowledged. "Why was there no protest then?" asks
Swaraj.
Many in the industry feel the uproar was long
overdue. Says K.P. Kumaran, whose Malayalam film Thotram was selected
at the ongoing International Film Festival of India at Thiruvananthapuram
but ignored at the National Awards: "It's a good sign. Controversies
do happen, but not so unabashedly as it has this time. It has left genuine
filmmakers traumatised." Others, less sensitive to behind-the-scenes
shenanigans just dismiss it. Says one member: "Forget seeing films
in their entirety, some members even cast their votes without attending
all screenings."
But Shashi Ranjan, jury member and producer
of a TV talkshow that features BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha, disagrees: "If
those who walked out were so unhappy, why did they wait till the results
were announced? It was a well-orchestrated move to advance their personal
interests." But the debate is certain to continue till the time President
K.R. Narayanan gives away the awards. Gautam Ghose, whose Dekha was nominated
the best feature film in Bengali this year, has announced that he will
not accept his award "unless there's a real enquiry". That Ghose
was jury chairman last year when Kher was given the best actress award
is, of course, best forgotten.
-with Labonita Ghosh
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