Zafri Mudasser Nofil
New wave filmmakers with fresh ideas and innovative scripts made their presence felt at the 60th National Film Awards for the year 2012.
Off-beat films like “Paan Singh Tomar”, “Kahaani”, “Vicky Donor” and “’Chittagong”among others were chosen for major awards.
While “Paan Singh Tomar” by Tigmanshu Dhulia is a biopic on the steeplechase runner and seven-time national champion in the ‘50s and ‘60s, who served in the Indian army before turning a bandit after a land feud in his family,Shoojit Sircar’s “Vicky Donor” deals with a hitherto explored subject of sperm donation. Bedabrata Pain’s muchlauded debut “Chittagong” is a page from the history of India’s independence struggle while Sujoy Ghosh’s “Kahaani” is the quest of a pregnant woman for her missing husband in Kolkata.
Bollywood shared the spotlight with Malayalam and Marathi films as the jury recognised wide variety of movies from different regional cinema industries.
Though not in the main categories, Malayalam films bagged 13 awards to emerge at the top. The jury was headed by Basu Chatterjee for feature films, Aruna Raje for non-feature films and Swapan Mullick for best writing on cinema.
“Paan Singh Tomar” was named the best feature film while its star Irrfan Khan shared the best actor award with veteran Marathi actor Vikram Gokhale.
The jury chose “Paan Singh Tomar” for its “powerful presentation of a true life story which Zafri Mudasser Nofil is Senior News Coordinator with PTI highlights the urgent need of a social support system for sportspersons especially in rural India”. It praised the “sleek and sensitive handling of a not-toocommon subject with remarkable aplomb”, saying,
“The movie leaves the viewer with a realisation of the decadent value system prevalent in the society.
Yet there is a beacon of hope!” According to it, Khan’s character was a “unique delineation of transformation of an international sportsperson to a dacoit, a difficult role very convincingly played”. The film won many awards this season and brought the limelight on 46-yearold Khan.
There was recognition for veteran Gokhale for his “well-calibrated performance that was masked by remarkably subtle underplay”. In “Anumati”, he plays a poignant role of a man who struggles to save his dying wife.
In the feature film category, 38 films from 14 languages were selected. Usha Jadhav was named the best actress for her performance in Marathi film “Dhag” as a rustic housewife in an unlikely setting of a cremation ground.
“Chittagong” and “101 Chodiyangal” (Malayalam) shared the Indira Gandhi award for the best debut film of a director. The jury said in “Chittagong”, director Pain “recreated a small town incident which had national impact with consummate artistry” while Siddhartha Siva has done a “commendable job” in his debut film in putting forth a topical and sensitive issue in “101 Chodiyangal”, a “highly watchable cinematic experience presented through a special relationship between a young precocious child and his conscientious school teacher”.
“Chittagong”, starring Manoj Bajpayee, Barry John, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Raj Kumar Yadav, is based upon actual events of India’s Chittagong uprising.
The award for the best popular film for providing wholesome entertainment was shared by “Vicky Donor” and “Ustad Hotel” (Malayalam). “Vicky Donor” is a wholesome entertainer presented in a breezy and humorous fashion and filmmaker Sircar has deftly avoided falling into the beaten track of formula films by presenting the sensitive subject of sperm donation without pandering to the baser instincts of the average viewer, the jury said.
On the other hand, it found Anwar Rasheed directed “Ustad Hotel” an “excellent advertisement for ‘desi enterprise’, as the film conveys a strong message of seeking realisation, compassion and contentment through service to the society at large”.
The award for the best director went to Shivaji Lotan Patil for his film Marathi “Dhag” while Anu Kapur (“Vicky Donor”) was named best supporting actor; and Dolly Ahluwalia (“Vicky Donor”) and Kalpana (“ThanichallaNjan”, Malyalam”) best supporting actress jointly. The best child artist award was shared by Virendra Pratap for “Dekh Indian Circus” (Hindi) and Minon for “101 Chodiyangal”.
Other winners included Shankar Mahadevan (best male playback singer for the song ‘Bolo na’ from “Chittagong”, Aarti Ankalikar-Tikekar (best female playback singer for the song ‘Palakein naa moon don’ from Marathi film“Samhita”, Sujoy Ghosh (best original screenplay writer for “Kahaani”) and Bhavesh Mandalia and Umesh Shukla (best adapted screenplay writer for “Oh My God”).
Special jury awards were announced for Rituparno Ghosh for “Chitrangadha” (Bengali) and Nawazuddin Siddiqui for “Kahaani”, “Gangs of Wasseypur”, “Dekh Indian Circus” and “Talaash”.
The award for the best choreography went to Pt. Birju Maharaj for “Vishwaroopam” (Tamil).
Regional films dominated the awards in the nonfeature film category.
“Shepherds of Paradise” (Gojri & Urdu), produced and directed by Raja Shabir Khan, was named the best film. Vikrant Pawar got the best director award for “Kaatal” (Marathi) and Lipika Singh Darai the best debut director for “Eka Gachha Eka Manisa Eka Samudra” (Odiya). “Shepherds of Paradise” was lauded for portraying the life of a nomadic shepherd family of Kashmir with an energy that goes far beyond empathy, creating a moving and compelling narrative that is vividly committed to its subject.
The Best Anthropological/Ethnographic Film award went to Sourav Sarangi-directed Bengali film “Char… The No-Man’s Land”, while “Celluloid Man”, directed by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur in English, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali, was given the Best Biographical/Historical Reconstruction and Best Editing awards.
Director Gouri Patwardhan’s Marathi film “Modikhanyachya Don Goshti” was named the Best Arts/Cultural Film, while Nirmal Chander’s Hindi and Urdu film “Dreaming Taj Mahal”, was declared the Best Promotional Film. The award for the Best Environment Film Including Agriculture went to “Timbaktu” (English). Malayalam film “Behind The Mist” was named Best Film on Social Issues.
“Manipuri Pony” was given the Best Exploration/ Adventure Film award, while English film “Inshallah Kashmir” was called the Best Investigative Film.
The Special Jury award in the Non-Feature category was shared between English films “I Am Micro” and “Cancer Katha”.
The Best Film on Family Values award went to “After Glow” (English and Gujarati); Kutchi film “Do Din Ka Mela” was awarded for Best Audiography andMoni Bordoloi was given the Best Narration/Voice Over National award for the Assamese film “Suranjana Deepali”.
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