Appoint eminent jury for national awards, Adoor writes to Centre

Appoint eminent jury for national awards, Adoor writes to Centre Thiruvananthapuram: Filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan has sought a fair jury for judging films submitted for this year's national awards. In a letter to information and broadcasting ministry secretary Ajay Mittal on Monday, he noted that the selection of movies for the awards last time and to Indian Panorama (this year) was

not up to the mark. Suggesting that the jury be headed by an eminent filmmaker, who is familiar with modern trends in cinema and enjoys a national stature, Gopalakrishnan urged to make names of jury panel nominees and their qualifications public. "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 pointed out.

He added that, "Apparently, the problem lies with the jury, which comprised mostly of people who have little or nothing to do with meaningful cinema either as professional practitioners or as discerning critics and scholars."

The Padma Vibhushan awardee said the story was repeated during the selection of films to the 'Indian Panorama' section of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2016. "Everyone in the industry was shocked by the kind of films that made it to the festival. Anything genuine, original and artistic was rejected. Critics at Mumbai, Kolkata and Kerala film festivals were heard saying that the rejections at the Goa event would make a good festival," Gopalakrishnan noted in the letter.