The National Film Awards are the most prestigious film awards of the country. While there might be many other award nights happening every year, but the amount of respect that the National Film Awards gets from every nook and corner of the country is unparallelled. So, when something happens related to the National Film Awards, it become national news. In a turn of events for the upcoming 70th National Film Awards, the award categories were announced and it seems that the names of Indira Gandhi and Nargis Dutt have been unceremoniously removed from a couple of the award categories.
If you look closely, the Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film is no longer mentioned the same. It’s now titled as Best Debut Film Of A Director. The director, who will be the winner of this award, will be honoured with a Swarna Kamal and Rs 3 Lakh. On the other hand, the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film On National Integration has been referred to as Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social And Environmental Values. This somehow merges the categories of social issues and environment conservation under one roof. The winner of the same, will be the director and producer both. They will each be awarded a Rajat Kamal and a prize money of Rs 2 Lakh each.
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For the unversed, the Indira Gandhi Award For Best Debut Film was previously called Best First Film Of A Director. However, the name of the former Prime Minister was added in 1984 as a mark of respect after her death. The Nargis Dutt Award For Best Feature Film On National Integration was started off in 1965 as a new category. It was done at the 13th National Film Awards.
Why have these names been dropped? Well, there has been no official answer yet. So, let’s wait and watch.
