Sunday, January 7, 2007

Bollywood Awards Facing Some Serious Questions

Award season of Bollywood is coming and the rumor surrounding the awards in different ceremonies is increasing. Though it is true that there are many more award ceremonies with the name of different magazines, companies, TV channels, the acceptability and fairness of many of these ceremonies are now under the questions. As most of the awards are providing from the private level then it has been a strong question whether the awards are losing their traditional appeals. Many star actors or actresses are reluctant to attend these kinds of award ceremonies. I have gone through a dailyindia report. The report says:

In the past, it was assorted film magazines that took on the onus of awarding the blazing talent our industry routinely displays in products. Then, corporates began stepping in, tagging their company names to the word 'awards'. Now, it's anybody's guess. Telecom companies, TV channels, random groups comprising producers' wives - everyone has an award show going. Worse, they all promise to be annual affairs.

Doubts about the credibility of Bollywood awards have often been raised from within the industry. Aamir Khan, among the most influential Bollywood actors, does not attend awards because he feels all of them are biased. And to top it all, we have maverick filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, who does not believe in the awards system at all. Seasoned actor Anupam Kher, who has been offered a role in Oscar award-winner director Ang Lee's next film, is also among those who routinely give Bollywood award functions a miss.

Trade observer Taran Adarsh says: 'In a poll to rate the credibility of awards, out of 1.2 million respondents, 45 percent felt that all the existing awards were arbitrary and unfair in some manner.

'The maximum that any award could manage was Filmfare, which was judged fair by as low as 40 percent of the respondents. For all the others, it was pathetic. National Awards are judged as fair by only 15 percent.'

The shower of awards has already begun with trade magazine Screen announcing its 2006 winners Saturday. And the list of winners suggests that this award season will not be too different from the ones before.

There is also a rumor that the actors or actresses are getting awards these days are not that much qualified than some other who are really qualified and talented but not glamorous. The report says:

Though much has been done to bridge the artificial divide between star and actor, a lot is needed. About time the industry started to appreciate the actors who are not necessarily glamorous stars. For instance, anywhere else in the world, actors like Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri would have been major stars.

In Hollywood, guys who look like Joe Pesci and Danny DeVito are stars. Here a Rajpal Yadav still runs the risk of ending up playing silly comic roles, and Raghuvir Yadav may get typecast as the village idiot.

So a non-actor like Fardeen Khan keeps getting films, and if actresses like Urmila Matondkar or Kareena Kapoor do one scene well in a film, they get best actress nominations.

The industry has no place for Seema Biswas except in mother roles, and Nirmal Pandey was forced to play caricature villains. Ashish Vidyarthi just gets to play very routine negative roles, and Manoj Bajpai failed when he insisted on playing the romantic lead.

It really looks bad that some talented and skilled actors and actresses are not getting their deserved honor in the industry which, I think, an alarming situation for Bollywood.

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