65 Winners Boycott National Film Awards After President Kovind Decides To Handover Only 11 Awards

One of the most prestigious award ceremonies, the National Film Awards, is going to take place today but more than 65 of the recipients won’t attend the ceremony. The winners are furious and have boycotted the ceremony for President Ram Nath Kovind has chosen to only present the award to 11 of the winners, even though it is a tradition that all the awards are to be presented by the president.

But why is Ram Nath Kovind refusing to honour other people? Well, it has said that he has a tight schedule, and so, the rest of the awards will be presented by Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani.

And the fact that all the recipients were informed about this at the last minute, is making them more upset.

All these artistes from across the country have written a letter addressed to the Directorate of Film Festival, Office of the President of India and the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to express their disappointment.

“It feels like a breach of trust when an institution/ceremony that abides by extreme protocol fails to inform us of such a vital aspect of the ceremony with a prior notice. It seems unfortunate that 65 years of tradition are being overturned in a jiffy.

BCCL

“In the circumstances of not receiving a response for our grievance we are left with no option but to be absent for the ceremony. We do not intend to boycott the award but are not attending the ceremony to convey our discontent and are awaiting a more just solution,” the letter read.

In case, you are wondering who these 11 people are who will be honoured by the president then here is the list of the lucky ones:

1. Best Actress: Sridevi, Mom

2. Dadasaheb Phalke Award: Vinod Khanna

3. Best Direction: Jayaraj, Bhayanakam (Malayalam)

4. Best Feature Film: Village Rockstars (Assamese) + Best Editing: Village Rockstars

5. Best Jasari film: Sinjar

6. Best Male Playback Singer: KJ Yesudas, “Poy Maranja Kalam” Viswasapoorvam Mansoor (Malayalam)

7. Best Music Direction (Songs): AR Rahman, Kaatru Veliyidai (Tamil)

8. Best Music Direction (Background score): Mom

9. Best Actor: Riddhi Sen, Nagarkirtan (Bengali)

10. Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration: Dhappa (Marathi)

11. Best Book on Cinema: Matamgi Manipur – The First Manipuri Feature Film (English)

(Also Read:?Boney Kapoor, Khushi-Janhvi Attend National Film Awards Rehearsal, Will Collect Sridevi's Award)