Malayalam filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan has lashed out at the National Film Awards, calling it a “cruel joke”. Speaking at the Film Societies of India’s John Abraham memorial award function, the national award winning director said that earlier the jury of these awards consisted of well-known film directors, theatre artists and critics, but now random people take decisions.
“Some random person becomes the chairman of the jury that gives awards to some people. No one should ask why they got the awards as everyone knows the exact reason. All I have to say is that these tendencies are unjust, ” the veteran filmmaker was quoted as saying by Manorama.
Gopalakrishnan added that most of the jury members were admirers of Bollywood movies and put little effort into giving awards to deserving films.
“A friend in Delhi told me that many jury members were tired after watching just two movies. Those who do not watch movies or do not understand anything about films give awards to a selected few out of courtesy,” Gopalakrishnan said.
This is not the first time that Gopalakrishnan has raised questions over the selection process for National Film Awards. In his letter to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in 2016, Gopalakrishnan had urged it to ensure a fair selection process for the jury of national film awards.
He had urged the ministry to ensure that the jury to select the national award to be headed by a “filmmaker of eminence” who is familiar with modern trends in cinema and who enjoys a national stature.
Adoor Gopalakrishnan, who has been conferred with Padma Vibhushan for his contributions to cinema in 2006, is known as a pioneer of new wave Malayalam cinema. Despite a career spanning over five decades, Gopalakrishnan had made only 12 feature films. His body of work also includes many short and documentary films. The veteran writer-director has received over 18 National Awards in his career.
