67th National Film Awards stand deferred in the wake of Covid-19

The National Film Awards take place on May 3 annually, but this year, the date falls within the lockdown period in India amid the coronavirus crisis.

With the Covid-19 pandemic leaving scores of key events across the globe deferred, the 67th edition of the National Film Awards, which honours excellence in the entire national spectrum of Indian cinema, on May 3 every year, also stands delayed indefinitely as of now.

Actor Anil Kapoor and his wife Sunita Kapoor at a past edition of the National Film Awards. (Photo: HT/Vipin Kumar)

It was in 2012 that May 3 was announced as the designated date for holding the National Film Awards distribution ceremony every year, commemorating the day India’s first full-length feature film, Dadasaheb Phalke’s Raja Harishchandra, was released way back in 1913. But this time, the date falls within the lockdown period in the country, owing to the ongoing global crisis.

According to sources, no discussions have taken place as of now regarding the annual gala, as officials are currently concentrating, more importantly, on tackling the coronavirus situation.

Filmmaker Rahul Rawail, who was the National Film Awards jury head last year, says the process of putting together a jury was “about to start” before the coronavirus scare took a more serious turn in India. “The jury itself has not been assembled as yet. And we can’t blame the government, as they are trying to do their best and their priorities are much bigger right now. They can’t do anything until the lockdown is lifted completely.”

Filmmaker Rahul Rawail chaired the Feature Film Category jury of the 66th National Film Awards. (Photo: HT/Hemant Padalkar)

Last year also, the National Film Awards announcement and distribution was delayed, but for a different reason - the general elections. The winners were eventually announced in August, and the ceremony took place in December. The winners are decided by an independent jury consisting of eminent filmmakers and film personalities and declared in April every year, followed by the ceremony on May 3.

Rawail also points out that with hardly any movie releases in 2020, he thinks “it won’t be fair to have” a National Film Awards next year at all.

“There are no film festivals happening really around the world... I think this year has practically gone off from the calendar as far as the film and TV industry goes. The government is as worried as film people are, but their priorities are different, and (the focus is on) getting things back on track (nationally)... We can’t expect the government to stop everything to look after films,” the filmmaker adds.

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