Sometimes the numbers have a way of saying it all. This year the break up of awards in the feature films category is…
- Hindi: 15
- Malayalam: 10
- Bengali: 6
- Kannada: 3
- Tamil: 3
- Telugu: 2
Besides,
- Big Pictures Reliance (produced, distributed, released) films bag 17 awards
And…the films with more than one award are…
- Kutty Srank (Malayalam): 5
- Abohoman (Bengali): 4
- Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja (Malayalam): 4
- Paa (Hindi): 4
- 3 Idiots (Hindi): 3
- Pasanga (Tamil): 3
- Lahore (Hindi): 2
- Delhi 6 (Hindi): 2
- Kaminey (Hindi): 2
- Magadheera (Telugu): 2
- Kanasemba Kudureyanari (Kannada): 2
What's heartening?
- Anjuli Shukla wins best cinematography award for Kutty Srank, reportedly the first woman Director of Photography to have won it.
- Introduction of an award for background score bagged this year by Ilayaraja for Kerala Varma Pazahassi Raja
And...what I am missing sorely in the list…
- 1. Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni’s poetic and philosophical Vihir
Here’s what it looks like
Another look...
And here’s what I feel about it..
Yaara Maula spoke of how the impressionable are incited to violence and hatred:
Phir wo aaye bheed ban kar,
haath mein the unke khanjar.
Bole phenko ye kitabein,
aur sambhalo ye salakhen.
Sheher was a gut-wrenching description of what happens during communal violence—the town prefers to curl up, sleep and shut its eyes even as it rains blood on the streets.
One line in Duniya, a brilliant contemporary version of Sahir Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai, said it all: Chutput si baaton se jalne lagegi bacha lo yeh duniya.
Piyush brought back the revolutionary poetry of the '50s cinema to Hindi films. This, his finest, is alone worth many awards…
Sarfaroshii kii tamannaa ab hamaare dil meN hai...
o re 'Bismil' kaash aate aaj tum hindustaan
dekhte kii mulk saaraa yuuN Tashan meN, thrill meN hai...
aaj ka launDaa ye kehtaa hum to 'Bismil' thak gaye
apnii aazadii to bhaiyyaa launDiyaa ke til meN hai...
aaj ke jalsoN meiN 'Bismil' ek guuNgaa gaa rahaa
aur bahroN kaa vo relaa naachtaa mehfil meN hai...
haath ki khaadii banaane kaa zamaanaa lad gayaa
aaj to chaddii bhii siltii englishoN kii mill meN hai...
- 3. Atul Kulkarni’s virtuoso performance in Natrang. Apparently the film had not even made it to the first list of the regional jury and had to be recalled by the main jury to eventually be awarded the Best Marathi film.
Some glimpses…