Paresh Rawal supported holding the 72nd National Film Awards ceremony in Kevadia, Gujarat.
Rawal questioned critics of the venue shift, arguing that major national celebrations ought to rotate across every Indian state.
The Ministry scheduled the ceremony for September 22 in Ekta Nagar to foster nationwide cinematic unity under the 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat' ethos.
Veteran actor Paresh Rawal has backed the Gujarat venue choice, saying there is nothing wrong with staging the 72nd National Film Awards outside New Delhi, ANI reported. Ekta Nagar (formerly Kevadia) will host the ceremony on September 22, following the Ministry's decision to take the honours across multiple states.
Paresh Rawal backs National Awards Gujarat venue
He questioned the criticism around the venue shift. “Is Gujarat in Bangladesh or Pakistan? It is also a part of our own country. Why shouldn't this event be held in Gujarat? Events should be held in Gujarat too... I say such events should take place in every state. There is nothing wrong with that...,” Rawal told ANI.
Why is the 72nd National Film Awards shifted to Gujarat?
The Ministry expanded the event's reach. It decided to host the ceremony across different regions rather than restricting it to New Delhi. Staging the gathering at Ekta Nagar unites artists nationwide while embodying the spirit of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’, the Ministry stated.
The awards began in 1954. For more than seven decades, the platform has honoured artistic craft and technical mastery across feature films, non-feature projects and cinema writing.
Films from several Indian languages and regions have received recognition over the years, and the Ministry has linked this year’s Ekta Nagar event to that wider national character.
72nd National Film Awards winners
Kartik Aaryan and Mammootty jointly won Best Actor in a Leading Role for Chandu Champion and Bramayugam, respectively.
Article 370 bagged the Best Feature Film honour, with Yami Gautam winning Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in the film. Randeep Hooda clinched the Best Debut Director prize for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar.
Coming back to Rawal, the 71-year-old was recently seen in Welcome to the Jungle. The actor will be seen in Malamaal Weekly 2 alongside Riteish Deshmukh, Rajpal Yadav and Elvish Yadav.
