HT City

‘AWARDS PLAY CRITICAL ROLE FOR SMALL FILMS’

Adil Hussain says the SAFF award comes as a validation of his choices

- Rishabh Suri rishabh.suri@htlive.com

For films like Raahgir, the producers do not have a lot of budget. ADIL HUSSAIN, Actor

He is no stranger to awards, and Adil Hussain has scored yet another win. He has been awarded Best Actor Male at Washington DC South Asian Film Festival, for his performanc­e in Raahgir.

The actor reveals that the news was given to him by his film’s producer. “He had been in touch with the authoritie­s at SAFF. It was a delight! We got not just one, but four awards. It always feels good when all of us win,” exclaims the actor. He adds, “Otherwise, when only you win, it feels like the rest of your team was left out. This was a great joy for the entire team. In fact, I messaged my producer saying ‘you should have won the award for the Best Producer as well! (laughs). But I don’t think there’s an award for that.”

On a serious note, Hussain looks forward to awards for a much more important reason, and that’s the buzz it creates around small films. “Generally, for films like these, the producers do not have a lot of budgets to put it out there, to let people know there is a film like this. When a subject like this is being made into a film, people are not so enthusiast­ic, unless they have heard about it,” feels the actor.

Another film which got noticed due to internatio­nal acclaim, featuring Hussain, was Pareeksha. He won Best Actor at the Indo-German Film Week 2020, Berlin for it. “Awards play critical role for small films. After such wins, people at least think ‘oh this film has gone to that festival’, or when an award is being conferred, then it becomes a validation. After awards, it becomes officially recognised, that it is a good film , and one should watch it in theatres or OTT platforms,” he admits.

 ?? PHOTO: GARETH CATTERMOLE/GETTY IMAGES ??
PHOTO: GARETH CATTERMOLE/GETTY IMAGES

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