4 May, 2013

At Awards Ceremony, Indian Leaders Call for “Morally Energising” Films Which Promote Cultural Harmony

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President of India Pranab Mukherjee marks 100 years of Indian Cinema,  postal stamps of 50 iconic movie personalities. Confers Film Awards at 60th NFA Function Government to launch Centenary Award recognising Paradigm Transformation in Film making Mahadev Auditorium to become Hub for Alternate Cinema

New Delhi, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, 03-May, 2013 – The President, Mr Pranab Mukherjee today conferred the film awards for the year 2012 in various categories at the 60th National Film Awards Function held at the Vigyan Bhawan.

In his address, President Mukherjee said, “Cinema must be used to portray positive societal values for building a tolerant and harmonious India. The film industry ought to take steps to ensure that cinema was morally energizing.” He lauded the initiatives taken by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting such as Single window clearance for shooting the films in India. He also complimented the Dada Saheb Phalke winner Sh. Pran for his contribution to Indian Cinema.

Also speaking on the occasion, Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Mr Manish Tewari, said the 60th National Film Awards had seen the inclusion of many new categories which had made the awards inclusive and had thereby encouraged quality cinema. The presence of films with innovative themes at the 60th NFA had proved that the Indian film industry was playing a proactive role in articulating issues and prejudices that had been historically embedded in our society. Indian Cinema, Mr Tewari said, had been the mirror of our milieu and had an incisive influence on the evaluation of our society. Internationally Indian Cinema had evolved to cater to the taste of International audiences. The Indian Film Industry through its journey had been able to institutionalise and project India’s soft power externally.

As a tribute to Indian film making, the Minister announced that the Government was instituting a “Centenary Award” that would be given every year starting this year, recognising a paradigm transformation in film making and honouring individuals or films that had profoundly influenced contemporary, socio cultural evolution. Mr Tewari also stated that in order to encourage parallel cinema, the Government was planning an image makeover for Mahadev Auditorium with a view to make it the “Hub of Alternative Cinema”.

In this context, the Minister said the Auditorium which was being used for screenings only on special occasions would be modelled along the lines of Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai to not just screen documentaries, small budget films but also provide a forum for film makers and connoisseurs to discuss the film making. Regarding the initiative of the ministry of taking a fresh look of the Cinematographic Act, Mr Tewari said the Committee constituted under Justice Mudgal would aim to find a golden mean between creative essence and aesthetic sensitivity. While complimenting all the recipients on the various awards, the Minister specially congratulated Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner, Mr Pran for his contribution to Indian Cinema.

The highlight of the evening was the release of postal stamps of 50 iconic personalities of Indian Cinema by President Mukherjee to commemorate the century long journey of Indian cinema. Speaking on the occasion, Minister for IT & Communications Sh.Kapil Sibal said, Department of Posts had given a fitting tribute to the powerful medium called Cinema by issuing 50 new stamps, a biggest release ever. The film personalities depicted in stamps released by the President include Ashok Kumar, Bhalji Pendharkar, Durga Khote, Dev Anand, Yash Chopra, Smita Patil, Rajesh Khanna, Shammi Kapoor, Suraiya, Geeta Dutt, Sohrab Modi, Tapan Sinha, C.V. Sridhar, Bhanumathi etc.

At the 60th NFA, the following awards were conferred:

Best Feature film: Paan Singh Tomar (Hindi) produced by UTV Software communications Ltd. and directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia.

Non-feature film category, Best Film: Shepherds of Paradise (Gojri & Urdu) produced and directed by Raja Shabir Khan.

Best Writing on Cinema section, the book Silent Cinema in India – A Pictorial Journey (English) written by B.D. Garga and published by Harper Collins Publisher India bagged the top honour

Best Film Critic: Mr P.S. Radhakrishnan.

In the Feature Film category, a total of 38 films from 14 languages were selected for the 60th National Awards.

Chittagong (Hindi) and 101 Chodiyangal (Malayalam) shared the Indira Gandhi award for the Best Debut Film of a Director.

Best Popular Film for providing wholesome entertainment was shared by Vicky Donor (Hindi) and Ustad Hotel (Malayalam).

Best Director : Mr Shivaji Lotan Patil for the film Dhag (Marathi).

Best Actor jointly shared between Mr Irrfan Khan playing the title role in Paan Singh Tomar and Mr Vikram Gokhale for the film Anumati (Marathi).

Best Actress: Ms Usha Jadhav for her performance in Dhag (Marathi).

Best Supporting Actor: Mr Anu Kapur for the film Vicky Donor.

Best supporting Actress: Shared by Ms Dolly Ahluwalia for the film Vicky Donor and Ms Kalpana for the film Thanichalla Njan (Malyalam).

Best Child Artist: shared by Master Virendra Pratap for Dekh Indian Circus (Hindi) and Master Minon for 101 Chodiyangal (Malayalam).

Best Male playback singer : Mr Shankar Mahadevan for the song Bolo Na from the film Chittagong.

Best Female Playback singer : Ms Aarti Ankalikar-Tikekar for the song Palakein Naa Moon Don from the film Samhita (Marathi).

Best Screenplay writer (original) : Mr Sujoy Ghosh for the film Kahaani. The award for best Screen play writer (adapted) : Mr Bhavesh Mandalia and Mr Umesh Shukla for the film Oh My God.

Best Dialogue : Ms Anjali Menon for the film Ustad Hotel (Malayalam).

Best lyrics : Mr Prasoon Joshi for the song Bolo Na from the film Chittagong. A special jury award : Mr Rituparno Ghosh and Mr Nawazuddin Siddiqui for the films Chitrangadha (Bengali), Kahaani, Gangs of Wasseypur, Dekh Indian circus and Talaash (Hindi).

Best choreography : Pt. Birju Maharaj for the film Vishwaroopam (Tamil).

In the Non-Feature Film category, Mr Vikrant Pawar has got the Best Director award for the film Kaatal (Marathi).

Best Debut Film of a Director: Mr Lipika Singh Darai for the film Eka Gachha Eka Manisa Eka Samudra (Odia).

Shumona Goel and Shai Heredia for the film I Am Micro (English) and Vasudah Joshi for Cancer Katha (English) have been selected for Special Jury Award. Timbaktu (English) has been awarded as the Best film in the Environmental category and Dreaming Taj Mahal ( Hindi & Urdu) has been conferred Best Promotional film.