More than 65 National Film Award recipients may not attend the ceremony on Thursday afternoon after it was announced President Ram Nath Kovind will present only 11 awards.
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The rest of the recipients will receive their awards from Information and Broadcasting minister Smriti Irani.
The artistes have written a letter to the Directorate of Film Festival, Office of the President of India and the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, stating, “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.”
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President Kovind will present the major awards including the awards for best actor, actress, film, Dadasaheb Phalke and best direction. According to a reputed news portal, he will present awards to the following recipients:
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11 winners who will be honoured:
Best Actress: Sridevi, Mom
Dadasaheb Phalke Award: Vinod Khanna
Best Direction: Jayaraj, Bhayanakam (Malayalam)
Best Feature Film: Village Rockstars (Assamese) + Best Editing: Village Rockstars
Best Jasari film: Sinjar
Best Male Playback Singer: KJ Yesudas, “Poy Maranja Kalam” Viswasapoorvam Mansoor (Malayalam)
Best Music Direction (Songs): AR Rahman, Kaatru Veliyidai (Tamil)
Best Music Direction (Background score): Mom
Best Actor: Riddhi Sen, Nagarkirtan (Bengali)
Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration: Dhappa (Marathi)
Best Book on Cinema: Matamgi Manipur – The First Manipuri Feature Film (English)
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Several winners are reportedly upset over the development.
ANI quoted National Award winning Marathi film director Prakash Oak as saying, “We feel insulted, 75 awardees are threatening to boycott the award ceremony.”
A Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said the organisers had been informed weeks in advance that the President would spend only up to an hour at the function during which time he would give out some of the awards and also have a group photograph taken with all the awardees.
The awards are presented by the President in the presence of the minister for information and broadcasting every year.