Well, this is not good news for the National Film Awardees who were looking forward to the moment when they receive their awards. Turns out President Ram Nath Kovind will only be present at the function for an hour and will be presenting the award to 11 winners only. He will not be able to stay at Vigyan Bhavan (venue for the function) for the whole ceremony. This has upset a lot of awardees who have now decided to boycott the function. And official told Hindustan Times, "Recipients of the 65th National Film Awards are disappointed that President Ram Nath Kovind will personally present the prizes to only 11 of the 137 winners when he meets them at a ceremony in the Capital on Thursday."

The same official also revealed that the Information and Broadcasting minister, Smriti Irani was at Vigyan Bhavan recently to speak to the winners and calm them down. A spokesperson from Rashtrapati Bhavan said that the winners were told a week in advance that the president will not be able to sit through the entire ceremony and will only hand out a couple of awards. Though he would make sure to take group pictures with the winners during the ceremony. (ALSO READ: Sridevi's Name for 65th National Awards: Shekhar Kapoor Maintains Don’t Give Sridevi an Award Because She Died!)

Ashok Mallik, President Kovind's secretary told the leading portal, "The fact that the President will be available at the awards function for one hour was communicated to the organizers weeks in advance. It has been the practice ever since the President took over that except for Republic Day or very important meetings, he will spend up to an hour at all other functions."

A senior official from the I&B department also revealed that it was informed earlier that the president will only give out 11 awards that include the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award for lifetime achievement, award for the most film friendly state; and a few awards for feature and a non-feature film sections and best writing. Late actors Sridevi and Vinod Khanna are also winners of the prestigious award this year. What are your thoughts on this? Tell us in the comments below and stay tuned with us for more.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 03, 2018 12:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).