52nd NFA jury bucks the trend
Is artistic merit at par with commercial success, asks Saibal Chatterjee.
When the 17-member 52nd National Films Awards jury began its deliberations late last month, who would have thought that Madhur Bhandarkar’s Page 3, despite the widespread critical applause it garnered, would emerge as the best Indian film of 2004, or that Saif Ali Khan, rarely regarded as an actor of substance, would walk away with the top prize in his category for what looked like no more than an adequate characterisation?
By snagging the coveted Swarna Kamal for the Best Film, the trenchant yet breezy and engaging Page 3 has made headlines because never before in the long history of the National Film Awards has a commercially successful Mumbai venture bagged the honour. The award is usually reserved for films woven around socially relevant themes and made by established non-mainstream directors.
“Of course, nobody makes a film with an eye on awards, but the Best Film National Award means a lot to me. It is really a great thing that a film like Page 3 has been awarded,” says Bhandarkar, whose low budget ChandniBar had bagged a prize in the Hindi language film category a few years ago.
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| Who would have thought that Saif Ali Khan would walk away with the top prize of National Award for Hum Tum? |
The Best Actor award, too, had never ever gone to a ‘lightweight’ screen performance. An unwritten rule had made it mandatory for the award in this category to be given to a role full of emotional force and serious intent. Saif’s uncomplicated performance in Kunal Kohli’s box office hit
Hum Tum
had neither, certainly not on the surface.
The jury, however, discovered great merit in Saif’s performance in the romantic comedy inspired by the Hollywood hit, When Harry Met Sally. Its citation lauded the actor for “his sheer ease, subtlety and spontaneity in portraying a complex and demanding role”.
Jury chairman Sudhir Mishra insists that he and his co-jurors would have no difficulty in defending their choice. He asks: “Why must the Best Actor award necessarily go to a heavy-duty performance? Can’t an actor leave an impression without having to quiver his lips and deliver high-pitched soliloquies?”
Page 3 got the better of a rather weak field for much the same reason. For Mishra, a film that is entertaining and engaging can also be a good piece of cinema. “That is perfectly true of Page 3,” he asserts.
Bhandarkar, of course, is elated with the recognition. “Page 3 earned critical appreciation as well as commercial returns. And now this award, I couldn’t have asked for more,” the director says.
A section of the jury, however, feels that Page 3 was really the best of a particularly bad lot of films. Says one member of the jury: “The quality of films that were entered this year was extremely poor. The only film that could have made it is Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s Swapner Din.” Swapner Din had to be content with the Best Director award.
This year’s National Awards have further bridged the gap between commercial success and artistic merit by handing out another of the top prizes to Page 3 - Best Screenplay award.