National Films Awards sure has a way to attract some controversy every year. Normally it is the selection of awardees that attract debates and opinion pieces. However this year, while the jury manages to avoid the bullet over the selection (save for a couple of winners), it is the ceremony itself that has managed to draw some flak. It has been reported that over 70 winners might not attend the ceremony, even though the protestors are not calling it as a boycott per se.

The reason for their abandonment of the ceremony is due to the President Ram Nath Kovind's busy schedule. It was informed to the awardees that the President will only be present for the ceremony for an hour and he will only give out 11 awards, not specifying which category. The rest of the awards would be given out by the I&B Minister Smriti Irani. As per the tradition, it is the President who honours all the winners in the ceremony. This is the first time such a situation has arisen; interestingly this is also Ram Nath Kovind's first National Film Awards ceremony as the President of India.

A source close to the development told Asian Age, "It has been a while since President Kovind had decided that apart from major constitutional ceremonies, he will spend a maximum of one hour at all other functions and events, and this was communicated to the organisers of events several weeks in advance, including the organisers of the National Film Award."

However, the winners are not in agreement to get the awards from the Minister. As Raees director Rahul Dholakia tweeted out, "one of the reason the National Film Awards are prestigious is because they are handed by the @rashtrapatibhvn -not a minister. This is a moment of a lifetime for Film makers ; please don’t deprive them of their merit / glory #NationalFilmAwards @smritiirani @Ra_THORe (sic)".

The awardees have written a letter in protest to the President requesting him to attend the ceremony in full, or else they would not be attending the same. Here's the letter -

"Respected Sir,

We write to you collectively as film makers and artists from various states across our country. We are recipients of the 65th National Film Awards, an honour that we consider as the most eminent token of appreciation and encouragement for our work.

We have been invited for the esteemed ceremony with a letter stating that the awards will be presented by the Hon’ble President of India. We along with our family and friends have been eagerly looking forward to this prestigious moment that merits our tireless work and dedication towards our dreams.

It is only a day before the ceremony that we have learnt through Mr. Chaitanya Prasad, that a large segment of the awards will not be presented by the Hon’ble President of India. It feels like a breach of trust, when an institution/ceremony that abides by extreme protocol fails to inform us of such a vital aspect of the ceremony with a prior notice. It seems unfortunate that 65 years of tradition are being overturned in a jiffy.

We as film makers and artists put in all that we have and tenaciously stick to our dreams in a field of work where appreciation does not come easy. We are disheartened to know  that we will be deprived of the honour of this appreciation of a once in a lifetime moment and pride and glory that the National Film Awards had promised us.

The National Film Awards, unlike other awards ceremonies, has been considered as the most pristine and unbiased. We request that the dignity and eminence of this award is maintained and that there is no display of hierarchy at the event. We are disappointed to know that the Hon’ble President will be presenting the Award to just 11 awardees and not the remaining of about 120 of us.

We would like to bring to your notice that we discussed this matter with the Hon’ble I&B Minister last evening and were promised a reply but haven’t heard back from anybody. We are left with no choice but to express our disappointment and convey to you that, at the end of the day, we feel dejected rather than honoured for our work.

In the circumstance of not receiving a response for our grievance, we are left with no option but to be absent for the ceremony. We do not intend to boycott the award, but not attending the ceremony to convey our discontent and are awaiting a more just solution."

At the time of writing the story, we are yet to receive an update on whether there has been any plan to pacify the disgruntles awardees.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 03, 2018 03:52 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).