The 66th National Film Awards had been announced on August 9, 2019, by film-maker Rahul Rawail, who has been heading the jury. Some of the big winners from Bollywood has been Uri: The Surgical Strike, AndhaDhun, Badhaai Ho, Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi et al. Uri: The Surgical Strike, which has been a darling film for the current BJP government, won some major awards, including Best Actor (Vicky Kaushal), Best Director (Aditya Dhar), Best Background Score and Best Sound Design. National Film Awards 2019: Uri The Surgical Strike Wins Big with Four Honours; Vicky Kaushal Gets Best Actor, Aditya Dhar Is Best Director.

Ever since the awards have been announced, fans have been wondering how Uri: The Surgical Strike has been eligible for National Film Awards, since the movie came out this year. Meanwhile, certain Kangana Ranaut fans are also demanding why Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi was also not considered for National Awards, even though it came out the same month as Uri.

There is a reason for that. The National Film Awards committee considers all the movies that have been given a Censor Certificate in the previous year. So in the case of the 66th National Film Awards, all the films considered eligible for the awards had been censored between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2019.

So in the case of Uri: The Surgical Strike, the movie was certified on December 31, 2018, as verified from the details provided by the Central Board of Film Certification website.

Screenshot Taken From CBFC website

And here's when Manikarnika was certified:

Screenshot Taken From CBFC website

As you can see, Manikarnika is certified a couple of days before release, which was on January 25. So it is eligible for the awards criteria next year. Even Kangana's usually vocal sister Rangoli Chandel is quite chill about the 'snub' in her tweet, though that hasn't stopped her from taking digs at Karan Johar and gang.

So Kangana Ranaut fans can hope if Manikarnika wins any awards for her in 2020. In the meantime, let's congratulate the team of Uri: The Surgical Strike for their big wins, even if controversial.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 09, 2019 05:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).