New Delhi: The 53rd National Film Awards seem to have run into a controversy yet again with a member jury alleging foul play in selecting the winners.
Kolkata-based film critic Shyamli Banerjee has filed a petition in the Delhi High Court levelling charges of corruption and fixing in deciding the 53rd Awards.
Banerjee has alleged that there is pressure on the members of the jury by the Directorate of the Film Festivals (DFF) to decide in favour of particular films.
She has said that the 53rd National Awards has been “hijacked” and there is a nexus of producers, distributors and directors.
Banerjee has listed out that director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film Black or it's actors in the film cannot get the National Awards as the movie is an adaptation of the film The Miracle Worker and according to the rules no adaptations can be given awards.
The 53rd National Awards is for films produced between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2005.
Past not perfect
The National Film Awards ran into a controversy last year also when documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan filed a petition in the Bombay High Court.
Patwardhan challenged the entry criteria for the National Awards, which does not allow films without a censor certificate.
The Bombay High Court upheld the petition in July last year, but the Directorate of Films later challenged the decision.
However, last month the Supreme Court verdict put aside the Bombay High Court's decision.
Meanwhile, in a series of speculations on the Awards it was rumoured recently that superstar Amitabh Bachchan had bagged the National Award for best actor for Black. The awards were to be announced on the May 12.
With last year being a 'zero year' for the Film Awards and the way it stands now, there may be no recognition of Indian films by the government if the case takes a turn for the worst.
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