By (Un)popular Choice
Paresh Rawal once described it as ‘Popular’ [film] Rewards are seen as ‘worthless and useless’. Aamir Khan, Ram Gopal Varma, Kangana Ranaut, Ajay Devgan and many more have stopped attending award ceremonies. The recently announced Zee Cine Awards also seem to confirm their views on such awards; The selection of winners seems particularly lacking in credibility.
Varun Dhawan won the award for the film Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari (a film described as a ‘super flop’), although his performance was slammed by audiences and critics alike. The same goes for Ananya Pandey, who won the ‘Best Supporting Actress’ award for the movie Kesari 2 despite the trolls she received.
Many thought Kriti Sanon’s performance in Tere Ishq Mein was melodramatic but she surpassed Yami Gautam’s nuanced and nuanced acting in Haq and was recognized as ‘Best Actress’.
Suparn Verma, who directed Haq, called it a “really low blow” to this writer. It is common knowledge that awards are given only to those who attend events.
Aamir Khan, who stopped participating in (and therefore receiving) popular awards decades ago, says these functions mean nothing to him. “I don’t agree with them. I don’t believe in them. They don’t matter at all. They haven’t been around for decades. I have great respect for the National Awards. But the popular awards? No thanks.”
Saif Ali Khan does not believe these either. “I was invited to an Awards ceremony a few years ago. When I got there, a senior person in the organization said to me: ‘We wanted to give you the Best Actor award. But you know how it is. We’re going to give you the Best Actor in a Comic Role award.’ “I think he was implying that there was a certain amount of politics and manipulation in the selection of award recipients.”
Stating that popular awards function as “a TV show”, he said, “You have to get on stage and perform. It’s no longer about going on stage, receiving your award and mumbling your Thank You speech. Now it’s a huge tamasha on stage. It was a good idea in the beginning, but then the commercial aspect came in and that wiped out all the credibility of such awards.”
“I think everyone is part of the movie awards hypocrisy. The truth is, we haven’t created a healthy environment for the awards. To me, award shows are just an excuse to make money performing on stage.”
Producer and former Censor Board Chairman Pahlaj Nihalani is also not a fan of awards, especially the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards. He claimed that many actors who were taken to exotic international destinations did not even attend awards events. “They were exhausted after partying all night.” Nihalani, who has been part of the IIFA advisory board for 12 years, says the concept of the international India awards is built around the global image of Amitabh Bachchan. “He was the face of IIFA until he decided to pull out when there were Tamil protests over the awards being held in Sri Lanka.” He added, “After 26 years, how much impact has Indian cinema made globally and what is IIFA’s role in it?”
I don’t agree with them. I don’t believe them. None of this matters. They haven’t been around for decades. I have great respect for the National Awards. What about popular awards? No thanks.”
-Aamir Khan
It’s no longer just about accepting the award and saying thank you. Now it’s all a big tamasha and commercialization has taken away most of the credibility.
— SAIF ALI KHAN
