National Film Awards 2018 ceremony was not a happy moment for all the winners when it was announced that the Honourable President Ram Nath Kovind would only present 11 awards. Many of them decided to give the award ceremony a miss when they figured out they would be conferred by Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Smriti Irani; Minister of State, I&B, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and I&B Secretary Narendra Kumar Sinha instead.
But actress Divya Dutt who won her first her National Award in the Best Supporting Actress category for the film 'Irada' is still over the moon. She wasn't among the 11 winners who were awarded by President Kovind but that hasn't diluted her happiness.
In an interview to Hindustan Times, Divya Dutta said, “To each their own. At the time when I was getting it, I didn’t want to think about anything but the fact that today, I am a National Award winner. I am going on that dais to get that award and I am getting it from the Government of India." She further added, “I will be honest — everyone would love to get it from the President; but at the end of the day, it is ‘the’ National award and it (not getting it from the President) doesn’t lessen what I have in my hand. It has the stamp of the Government of India. It says that I am a National Award winner and I was getting it from somebody who is very honoured. I think when you reach there to take it, it’s beautiful; you just live in that moment. It doesn’t take anything away from me.”
She also revealed that artists who had skipped the award ceremony turned up for the dinner that evening. She told HT, “There was a certain grace to the event. Everyone expressed their opinion very peacefully and, at the end of the day, they also know that it is ‘the’ National award and it has a certain dignity attached to it. Later, we all had dinner together. Even those who didn’t come for the award ceremony came for dinner.”
Divya Dutt's film 'Irada' also received a National Award in the category Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation.
