Prominent filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan shot off a letter to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Monday, demanding the appointment of qualified jury for judging films for this year’s national awards.
According to reports, Adoor, in his letter addressed to ministry secretary Ajay Mittal, points out that the selection of films for the national awards last year as well as for the Indian Panorama section for this year’s International Film Festival of India (IFFI) had not been up to the mark.
The filmmaker, who recently completed 50 years in cinema, pointed out that films that were genuinely artistic and original were rejected to make way for commercial films.
Saying that the panel needs a jury which is aware of the modern trends in cinema, Adoor has reportedly asked for the qualifications of the jury members to be made available in the public domain.
In an excerpt of the letter published by The Times of India, Adoor laments the unfortunate state of the major awards, that has begun to entertain commercial films irrespective of other pointers.
“The national film awards are ought to recognize films for their thematic relevance, social commitment, original approach, technical excellence and above all aesthetic brilliance. Unfortunately, last year all major awards, including the best and director, went to outright commercial films, undermining the very purpose for which the awards was instituted,” he said.
The reason for this, Adoor observes in his letter, is that the jury is comprised of “people who have little or nothing to do with meaningful cinema.”
Adoor Gopalakrishnan has previously been critical of mainstream commercial cinema, to the extent of questioning the merits of the filmmakers.