Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur) - Hindustan Times (Jaipur) - City
NO AWARD WITHOUT DUE RESPECT FOR IT
Why Akshay Kumar, and not Aamir Khan? The National Awards Jury chairman tells it like it is
The announcement of the National Awards has been immediately followed by controversy over why the Best Actor award went to Akshay Kumar (for Rustom) and not Aamir Khan (for Dangal). In a candid chat, National Awards Jury Chairperson Priyadarshan tells us that Aamir Khan was not considered because he has, in the past, spurned awards.
Many people are wondering why Akshay, not Aamir? Why should we have given the Best Actor award to Aamir Khan when he has made it clear that he doesn’t attend awards functions? If he doesn’t want to accept the honour, what’s the point in honouring him?
But he may feel differently about popular awards. He was given the National Award for Taare Zameen Par. But he didn’t attend [the ceremony]. It would be insulting to the government and to the National Awards if we honour an actor who doesn’t turn up to receive the honour. And we are (this year) honouring an actor who is every bit as meritorious.
But Akshay was superior in Airlift compered to Rustom. The award is for both Airlift and Rustom. The jury felt that Akshay was outstanding in the two contrasting roles. For technical reasons, we could only mention one film.
Akshay and you have worked together several times... Should we not have honoured Akshay because we’ve worked together [on film projects]? If he’s good, he’s good.
If [Aamir] doesn’t want to accept the honour, what’s the point in honouring him? PRIYADARSHAN, FILMMAKER AND NATIONAL AWARDS JURY CHAIRMAN
What was your criteria for honouring actors? They should not be playing tailormade roles, e.g. an actor from Haryana playing a Haryanvi or an action hero doing exceptional stunts. We were looking at actors who stretched themselves beyond their comfort zone.