The National Awards came as a rude shock to regional cinema. It is only through the National Awards that non-Bollywood films can make a mark.
I was hurt because my performance in the film ‘Rajkahini’, which was critically acclaimed, failed to make the cut. Though I have deep respect for the winners, I feel that my performance should have been more closely analysed. This was a role that comes to actors like me rarely, the kind that Dimple Kapadia did in ‘Rudaali’ and Shabana Azmi in ‘Godmother’. Unlike Bollywood, which has a host of awards, we have nowhere else to compete. Again, it is not about the award. It is the incentive; we who work in regional cinema too need something to go on, to assure us that we too are doing something worthwhile.
Almost every year I am nominated. In the past I consoled myself saying that others had performed better. But this time I thought I stood a chance. It was a double whammy as ‘Rajkahini’ too was not considered worthy of even a single award. Bahubali was a well loved film and it was highly successful. Nonetheless, the choice has also left me confused. What are the parameters to judge a film? Perhaps, they could also have included a category for the best VFX, and ‘Baahubali’ would have won it hands down.
Vidya Balan is reprising my role in the Bollywood version of ‘Rajkahini’. I suspect that she might win a national award for her portrayal of Begum Jaan. The choices made by the National Award Jury have forced me to think on these lines. I love Kangana and I am also sure she has nothing to do with the Jury’s choices. But if the choice is between Tanu in ‘Tanu Weds Manu’ and Begum Jaan in ‘Rajkahini’, I am firmly convinced that it will not be an easy decision as the Jury has made it out to be.
