The 64th National Awards were announced some time back, and as usual it brought its fair share of controversies. Well, fair share is too light a word to use, as the uproar the winners' list has caused
he 64th National Awards were announced some time back, and as usual it brought its fair share of controversies. Well, fair share is too light a word to use, as the uproar the winners’ list has caused had even made the jury chairperson Priyadarshan give out his defense for his rather controversial choices. However, in doing so, he only made more insipid arguments that fooled no one. The biggest WTF winner on the list was definitely Akshay Kumar getting a National Award for the Best Actor for his strictly average performance in an okay courtroom drama, Rustom (and unofficially, also for a slightly better performance in Airlift). Now we are not saying there is any kind of bias in Akshay Kumar winning the award, even if we overlook the fact Priyadarshan and Akshay Kumar have worked in a few movies together and Akshay might also star in his Oppam remake. We will also ignore the fact that Priyadarshan’s best friend Mohanlal also got a Special Jury Award too. The fact is, at the risk of displeasing Akshay Kumar fans, that neither Rustom or even Airlift had a performance worth enough to let Akshay Kumar get an award. Remember this is no Filmfare or Screen awards, it’s National awards that should look more at actors than stars and should consider entire nation’s cinema. Not that Akshay was bad in his movies, but there have been better performances than him this year, even in Bollywood.
In this special feature, we look at 7 performances in Bollywood only that the National Award jury chose to ignore for some dubious reasons.
Manoj Bajpayee in Aligarh
Everyone thought Manoj Bajpayee was going to win the Best Actor at this year’s National Awards. He had given such a nuanced performance that he was so deserving of the award. But he was not patriotic in the movie; instead, he was playing a closeted homosexual, and this is not the Oscars we are talking about for honouring such roles. This is the National Awards, mind you!
Aamir Khan in Dangal
I am not going to praise Aamir Khan’s work in Dangal. I will just let Priyadarshan justify why he ignored Aamir Khan for Akshay Kumar, who was awarded for his “range from playing a real life character and doing a tailor-made role”. He said, “I recalled Dangal saw it again but it missed because the regional films were brilliant.” Fine. There might be better movies than Dangal. But then this is what Priyadarshan has to say about Aamir Khan not being considered. “It’s not just someone looks right for the character, we cannot call him Best Actor. Mohanlal and Akshay have survived for so long, we thought it’s good encouragement.” So what is this? Consolation prize or Lifetime Achievement award?
Randeep Hooda in Sarbjit
Poor Randeep Hooda! Not only was his terrific performance as the emaciated POW ignored by Bollywood awards, he also gets the same treatment during National Awards too. To rub salt into wounds, Priyadarshan even said that they had considered Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s screechy performance in the same film for Best Actress. Randeep Hooda had no chance!
Amitabh Bachchan in Pink
Sure, Amitabh Bachchan had already got a National Award last year for Piku, and the role he played in Pink of that of a schizophrenia-suffering lawyer is a cakewalk for the legend. But it was way better than the one for which they gave a National Award for Best Actor.
Alia Bhatt in Udta Punjab
As I mentioned before, Priyadarshan had revealed that the jury only found two actresses worthy of National Awards this year – Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for Sarbjit and Surabhi for Minnaminungu, the latter who won the award. For the jury, Udta Punjab, one of the best movies of last year, was non-existent, and so was Alia Bhatt’s brilliant performance. And we do know why… Hint: It has something to do with a certain Mr Nihalani. That’s why there is no mention of Shahid Kapoor in the list too.
Radhika Apte in Phobia
I know the National Awards jury’s anger with Udta Punjab, but what made ignore Radhika Apte’s absolutely ballsy performance in Phobia? That’s unjustifiable!
Shabana Azmi in Neerja
he young, talented Zaira Wasim was too good as the young Geeta Phogat in Dangal, but was she better than Shabana Azmi in Neerja? The one whose speech in the end still makes you reach for the tissues. Your say…
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