The New Indian Express ·
Politics
National Film Awards move out of Delhi for first time in 72-year history, to be held in Gujarat's Kevadia
NEW DELHI: The National Film Awards ceremony will be held outside New Delhi this year, marking a rare departure from the long-standing tradition of conferring the prestigious honours in the national capital. The 72nd National Film Awards ceremony will be held at Ekta Nagar formerly Kevadia in Gujarat on September 22, with President Droupadi Murmu presenting the awards.
The government, however, has not officially stated the reason for shifting the venue from New Delhi to Gujarat.
Kevadia, which has been renamed Ekta Nagar, is home to the world’s tallest statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The Statue of Unity, as it is named, stands at 597 feet and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018.
Earlier, the 17th NFAs ceremony took place at University Centenary Auditorium in Chennai in November 1970.
The first national awards, constituted as “State Awards” for films, were given out in a ceremony at Delhi’s National Physical Laboratory auditorium in 1954. First President Dr Rajendra Prasad handed over the awards.
The same auditorium served as the ceremony venue for three consecutive years until Vigyan Bhawan was constructed in 1956, which was built for international conferences convened by the Central ministries and government departments. The fourth edition of the award function took place at the Vigyan Bhawan in 1957. Since then, it has hosted most of the award ceremonies. The 72nd edition of the awards, announced in July, marks a departure from this tradition.
The awards recognise the best achievements across feature films, non-feature films and writings on cinema. Over the years, the number of awards has increased. For the first six years, the awards, with two President’s Gold Medals, two certificates of merit and silver medals, were meant for regional films.
Separate awards for artists and technicians were instituted in 1968. Renowned actor Nargis Dutt won the inaugural National Film Award in the best actress category for her performance in “Raat Aur Din” (1967), which was directed by Satyen Bose, while Uttam Kumar bagged the first-ever National Film Award in the best actor category for his roles in “Antony Firingee” and “Chiriyakhana” (1967). They were directed by Sunil Bannerjee and Satyajit Ray, respectively. The best actress award was then named “Urvashi”, while the best actor award was called “Bharat Award”.
The awards aim at encouraging the production of films of excellence and social relevance, contributing to the understanding and appreciation of cultures in cinematic form.
Interestingly in May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens to hold destination weddings at Statue of Unity at Kevadia. “In Gujarat, I would say this: you should now make it a point to hold your weddings right at the Statue of Unity.”