At a time when a few filmmakers have been hogging the media limelight by announcing to return their National Awards, Bollywood veterans like Vidya Balan, Anupam Kher and Madhur Bhandarkar on Thursday said returning the National Award is an insult to the nation.
Bollywood star Vidya Balan said she will not give back her National Award as it was an honour bestowed on her by the country. The comment has come against the backdrop of some eminent film personalities returning their National Awards in solidarity with FTII students and against growing intolerance in the country.
“This honour (the award) is by the nation and not the Government. So I do not want to return it,” Balan said at the ‘India Today’ Conclave.
Balan had won the National Award for the best actress for her performance in ‘The Dirty Picture’ in 2012. Vidya said she was not interested in joining politics and would “fail miserably” at it. She also said that working towards social causes should be an individual decision and no one should be compelled to work for a particular cause.
Veteran actor Anupam Kher and director Madhur Bhandarkar slammed filmmakers who returned their National Awards in solidarity with the protesting FTII students, calling it a move motivated by “agenda”.
Filmmakers Dibakar Banerjee, Anand Patwardhan and eight others returned their National Awards on Wednesday, saying their decision to return the awards was taken in view of the apathy displayed by the Government in addressing the students’ issues and the general environment of intolerance against debate.
“Some more usual suspects, who never wanted @narendramodi to become PM in d first place have joined the #AwardWapsi gang. Jai Ho,” Kher tweeted, adding “Some of these usual suspects of #AwardWapsiGang were instrumental in getting me out of Censor Board the moment Congress came in power. #Agenda.”
The actor said the filmmakers have insulted the National Awards jury and the audience, who watches their films. “This #AwardWapsiGang has not insulted the Govt but The Jury, The Chairman of the Jury and the audience who watched their films. #Agenda,” he posted.
Bhandarkar, who himself holds many National Awards for his work on films like “Chandni Bar”, “Page 3” and “Traffic Signal”, said the filmmakers’ move is an “insult” to the people behind a film and the Indian President, who hands out the coveted trophies every year.
“National award is given to an individual for the appreciation of his work, hard work and idea. The jury watches 500 films and then zeroes in on the best one. Returning the National Award, then, is an insult to the person who made the film, technicians who were associated in the making, actors who performed, the jury which selected and the President of India too,” Bhandarkar told PTI.
The 47-year-old “Calendar Girls” helmer finds the filmmakers’ decision “selective activism”. “There cannot be cherry picking on any issue. This is selective target, activism. You cannot react to only those things which suit you. There was no outrage when Salman Rushdie was not allowed for the literary fest, when Taslima Nasreen was facing backlash, when Kamal Hasaan’s movie ran into trouble.”
The director-producer added he will not return his National Award as giving them back will be showing disrespect towards his cast and crew. “I am not going to return my National Awards. I got them because of my work and not my ideologies. If I return I will be undermining the efforts of my actors, writers, technicians. There is no question of returning.”
Director Vivek Agnihotri, whose claim to fame is erotic- thriller “Hate Story”, also criticised the filmmakers, saying they returned the awards only after “milking them to their advantage”.
“India is the first and the only country where people don’t refuse awards but return awards after milking them to their advantage.
Agnihotri also made a snide remark at Patwardhan. “Just heard Anant Patwardhan has returned his award. My faith in this Government has increased manifold… I will respect filmmakers who refuse to release their films, instead of ‘fully milked’ awards,” he added.
Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit criticised Banerjee and veteran poet-lyricist Gulzar for selective activism. “#DibakarBanerjee should have used some other means of publicising his film rather than falling into the trap of fraud gang of #secularists,” he tweeted.