Oh What A Rigmarole!

Come June 24 and London will witness something called the IIFA or the International Indian Film Awards. Pegged as the mother of all awards (with offspring sprouting every month), promoters Wizcraft are spending crores in flying stars to London. But they haven't been able to impress cynics who're convinced that Shylock, not Solomon sits in judgement at these awards. The aim of Indian film awards like Filmfare, Zee, Screen and even the niche National Awards, they aver, is not to reward talent or performance; it is to make money from TV rights and sponsors. And the award goes to... the highest bidder.

Khuda Gawah won seven Filmfare awards. "It should have won nine," says producer of the film and doyen of the industry, Manoj Desai. "But I couldn't purchase the other two awards. Of Best Actor and Best Actress. Someone highly placed in Filmfare told me that Amitabh and Sridevi would get the awards if some pending bills in the Centaur hotel could be taken care of. The price for the awards was Rs 7.5 lakh, a lot of money those days. I said no. The film was such that they had to give it the other seven awards without quoting any price. Mukul Anand was involved in organising the awards so they had to give him the Best Director. The whole thing is such a joke."

And stars often end up becoming the laughing stock. A few days before the Stardust Millennium Awards last year, Amitabh Bachchan, it was decided, would get the Star of the Millennium award, meant to be a surprise in an envelope. When Dilip Kumar was invited to the event, he said he'd oblige only if he was given the award. Stardust decided to do without Dilip Kumar.

And the joke blew up in Anil Kapoor's face. Two days before one of the Filmfare awards, he threw a party for a select few, including some senior journalists, to celebrate his winning the Best Actor award. But the elation turned into embarrassment when Dimple Kapadia, called to present him the award, announced his name without even opening the envelope, and quipped: "I can see through it, I can see through it."

Veteran Subhash Ghai recalls a jury member telling him that none of his choices ever won an award since he was clearly asked to send his selections separately. Another influential person remembers a jury member calling up to ask Aditya Chopra: 'Do you want the Best Wholesome Entertainer award or the Best Debut Director'? This was a few days before the National Awards, when Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge was in the reckoning. Chopra gracefully chose the Best Wholesome Entertainer award. It would have made him eligible for tax exemption all over Maharashtra. The film eventually bagged the award.

Ram Gopal Varma is reluctant to call it rigging, just "a democratic distribution of awards". But he can't help wondering to this day why his Satya, which was in contention for the Best Film category, was thrown out of the National Awards. Says he: "According to a jury member, the 'intention of the director in making the film' was not clear."

Endorsing his view, cinematographer Rajiv Menon says: "It might seem like a loser's cry but there are doubts about the voting pattern and a strong feeling exists that these awards are rigged. And when they vote Salman Khan for best actor ahead of Manoj Bajpai, they better start calling it Best Star instead of Best Actor."

Something even Govinda commented upon after he got the Zee Cine award for Best Actor in a comedy role for Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan. He had told Outlook then: "All these awards, Filmfare or Screen, are rigged. They decide who'll get what. And they decide I am the best comedian. I see the Oscars and I know that if the lead actor is in a funny role, he is given the best actor award, not best comedian. "

So disillusioned is a section of the film community that it shuns these awards completely. Says the bureau chief of trade journal, Film Information: "Aamir Khan hates these awards. He doesn't go to collect them. So isn't it a remarkable coincidence that Filmfare claims that the public votes for the winners, but Aamir doesn't win any award. The award goes to someone who'll collect it, like say Sanjay Dutt for Vaastav, ahead of someone who won't, like Aamir in Sarfarosh." Subhash Ghai doesn't go to collect the awards. He was yawning at home when Aishwarya Rai went to collect her trinket for Taal.

Indian film awards are no Oscars, the film fraternity will tell you. Their sole purpose is to garner money. Citing an instance, a senior marketing official from Star TV reveals: "The deal that Manikchand and Filmfare have got into is not worth less than Rs 8 crore." As for TV rights, Star CEO Peter Mukherjea says: "On an average the channels shells out anywhere from Rs 1-2 crore on TV rights alone."

In return, they expect good value for their money. Says Mukherjea: "A channel will expect the organisers to have top stars. For example, you need a Hrithik to be around for the awards. A channel will not buy the rights if certain stars are not going to be there." Says Shyam Benegal: "There are awards which cancel your name if you don't confirm your participation."

Rakesh Roshan remembers the days when he used to look forward to the Filmfare awards at the famed Shanmukhananda Hall in Mumbai. Subhash Ghai harks to the time stars like Vyjanthimala and Hema Malini felt privileged to perform at the Filmfare show. Today even a new star, says Ghai, demands money for his or her performance.

Film awards are no longer an honour. They are just one more market event, attended by hype, but devoid of any substance. "And," an actor repeats a famous quote, "I will drink the sponsor's piss water to that."