Commercial films winning the national Award for best film honour is not new, the Balraj Sahni-Leela Naidu starrer Anuradha did it as far back as 1960, over K. Asif’s magnum opus Mughal-e-Azam which got the President’s silver medal for best feature film. The uproar over the top honour announced for S.S. Rajamouli’s superhit Baahubali last week could in part be because Bollywood swept other major awards: Sanjay Leela Bhansali best director for Bajirao Mastani, Amitabh Bachchan best actor for Piku and Kangana Ranaut for Tanu Weds Manu Returns (though the first oeuvre did not win).
That set off protests from movie makers from the South and West Bengal, the traditional winners. Social media and 24x7 TV, not present in the 1960s, added to the din. There are two opinions. Those who are charitable say Hindi films also are an integral part of Indian cinema. But as actor Kamal Haasan had once remarked, Indian cinema should not be confused with Bollywood.
Right from when Saif Ali Khan was adjudged best actor for Hum Tum for 2004, or Raveena Tandon for Daman in 2001, questions have even been raised over the impartiality of the jury: Actor MacMohan was on the jury that selected Raveena and Sharmila Tagore was heading the Censor Board the year her son won.
That was also the year two jury members had quit alleging “a political cartel had turned the awards into a farce”. One of them was Pradeep Krishnan. But there is another thing. Doubts are raised when a Bollywood film or actor wins a national award.
Then there is another question. If the national best film is indeed the nation’s best, why aren’t they sent to the Oscars. In 2005, the year Rang de Basanti won a top award, India sent Paheli to the Oscars. The national best film that year was Buddhadeb Das Gupta’s Kalpursh. Give us Adaminte Makan Abu (2011) or Gulabi Talkies (2008) any day.
Come what may, gems like Masan, Visaaranai or Chauthi Koot must get their due. Size matters, but substance must rule the roost. Meanwhile, work on Baahubali–II is going on. Even if we will never know the real reason for its national award, we will at least know, why Katappa killed Baahubali.
