It’s a week since the reports of the 53rd National Awards came out. And, celebrations have been in air ever since for all the winners. “I have never got a National Award, so I am very happy to get whatever my film has been selected for,” Sanjay Leela Bhansali whose ‘Black’ won the award for the best film in Hindi said recently.
Now here comes the shocker - the winners have not yet received an official word from the authorities on their feat! “I have not yet received any intimation from the authorities. I am going by what the media is reporting right now,” confirmed Amitabh Bachchan, who has been chosen best actor.
Same goes for Shyam Benegal who has been chosen for the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his contribution to Indian Cinema as he said, “No, nothing has come to me yet.” Pradeep Sarkar, the director of ‘Parineeta’ has a similar drum to beat.
However, media reports on the National Award are not always spot on. A few years ago, a news channel had declared that Vishal Bhardwaj had won the award for best screenplay for ‘Maqbool’. But it was later discovered that he had not won the award at all. Even this year, if we go by the reports, Vishal has won the award for ‘Blue Umbrella’.
But his associate Poonam Sawhney has denied receiving any intimation yet. “They should send a personal official letter. Till then, there is always an uncertainty,” said Poonam.
Right now, the only official source of information seems to be the website of Press Information Bureau. “I saw the list on the website of PIB,” said Deepa Narayan, whose film ‘Kab Hoga Gawna Hamar’ won the best Bhojpuri film award.
