#NewsBytesExplainer: Wondering how National Film Awards work? Take a look
While the Indian film industry has numerous award ceremonies that felicitate the who's who of Indian cinema, National Film Awards are a different league of their own. They are considered the pinnacle of cinematic brilliance in India, and winning the National Film Award brings immense repute to the awardee and translates into phenomenal work opportunities in the future. Here's how the entire mechanism works.
The Awards are going strong since 1954!
The Awards—which were established in 1954—are presented by the president of India at a ceremony in New Delhi. "Initially called 'State Awards,' with two President's Gold Medals, two certificates of merit, and silver medals for a dozen regional films, for the first six years, it was the practice to give the Regional Best Award to the National Best Film itself," says the official website.
There's an award for Best Writing on Cinema, too!
As per National Film Awards' website, the awards are categorized into three sections: Features, Non-Features, and Best Writing on Cinema. The third category "focuses on encouraging the study and appreciation of cinema as an art form and dissemination of information and critical appreciation of the art form through the publication of various books, articles, reviews, newspaper coverage, and studies," says the website.
This year, Asha Parekh won this prestigious award
Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in the field of cinema, is also presented during the National Film Awards. It is named after Dadasaheb Phalke, who directed India's first full-length feature film, Raja Harishchandra. The award comprises a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a shawl, and a cash prize of Rs. 10L. This year, veteran actor Asha Parekh was chosen for the illustrious honor.
Nargis and Uttam Kumar were first acting awardees
Nargis Dutt and Uttam Kumar have the honor of being the first female and male actors, respectively, to have been conferred with the National Film Awards in the acting categories. The Best Actress was then called "Urvashi," while the Best Actor category was called "Bharat."
The Awards aim at 'contributing to the appreciation of cultures'
"The Awards aim at encouraging the production of films of aesthetic and technical excellence and social relevance contributing to the understanding and appreciation of cultures of different regions...in cinematic form, thereby also promoting unity and integrity of the nation," per the official website. Moreover, the winners are selected by "the Jury comprising persons distinguished in the field of cinema, other allied arts, and humanities."
Over 100 films enter the contest each year
India's Directorate of Film Festivals appoints the jury, and every year, over 100 films made across India are entered and deemed eligible for the Awards in Feature and Non-Feature categories each. There are several rules that each movie must meet to qualify; one of them is it must be certified by the CBFC between January 1 and December 31 of the previous year.
Over the years, Bollywood has been the frontrunner
The jury invites entries from all the major Indian film industries. Over the years, reportedly, 25 Awards for Best Actor, 27 for Best Children's Film, 19 for Best Music Direction, and 17 for Best Supporting Actress have gone to Bollywood or Hindi cinema. Surprisingly, despite delivering several critically acclaimed films over the years, Shah Rukh Khan is yet to become a National Film Awardee.
Meanwhile, here's a refresher on National Film Awards 2022
The 68th National Film Awards were announced in July, and the ceremony took place in September. Suriya's Soorarai Pottru was declared the Beat Feature Film. The Best Actor award was shared between him for Soorarai Pottru and Ajay Devgn for Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior. While this is Suriya's first National Award, Devgn had previously earned it for Zakhm and The Legend of Bhagat Singh.
These were the jury members
This year, the jury comprised 10 eminent personalities from different film fraternities across the country. The members included directors Vipul Shah, VN Aditya, Viji Thampi, cinematographers Dharam Gulati and GS Bhaskar, composer Karthik Raja, and actors Sreelekha Mukherji, Nishigandha Wad, S Thangadurai, and Sanjeev Rattan.
