Premium69th National Film Awards: The common factor that binds the snubbed films, Jai Bhim, Sarpatta Parambarai and Karnan
Fans and cinephiles have been questioning the credibility of the jury after the three landmark films in Tamil were completely neglected
Last Updated: 04.03 PM, Aug 25, 2023
The 69th National Film Awards, which were announced yesterday, came as a huge disappointment for Tamil films as some of the landmark films in Tamil cinema got royally snubbed by the jury. Cinephiles and fans who were eagerly rooting for Jai Bhim, Karnan and Sarpatta Parambarai, were shocked when none of the films received any award.
United by caste
Interestingly, all the three films have one factor in common. All the three films deal with stories of people from the marginalised communities. TJ Gnanavel's Jai Bhim, which stars Suriya, Manikandan and Lijimol Jose in the lead, revolves around police discrimination and brutality against people from the Irula tribal community.
Karnan by Mari Selvaraj, which had Dhanush playing a Dalit man, is inspired by the Kodiyankulam violence where police raided a Dalit settlement on the instruction of dominant caste officials. Pa Ranjith's Sarpatta Parambarai had Arya playing the Dalit boxer Kabilan who finds an opportunity to redeem himself from years of defeat. Interestingly, both Karnan and Jai Bhim are inspired by real-life incidents.
What has also offended many The Kashmir Files, which emerged as one of the most controversial films of the year and was billed as a propaganda film, was picked for the Nargis Dutt Awards for National Integration.
The three films were seen holding a mirror to the casteist society we live in and represented the pain of the marginalised who were discriminated against for generations. They were considered as landmark films in the annals of Indian cinema.
Twitter calls the jury, a joke
Fans and cinephiles have been questioning the credibility of the jury after the three landmark films in Tamil were completely neglected
Some of the leading names in the film industry have called out the choices for the awards. Veteran cinematographer PC Sreeram clearly expressed his disappointment on his social media handle. He wrote, "We in the film ferernity are united in our happiness for this year's #NationalAwards Did they leave out " jaibeem"due to any particular reason or is it the voice if INDIA which has them given jitters (sic)."
Similarly, popular Telugu actor Nani, who was last seen in Dasara, too shared his discontent with a broken heart emoji and the caption Jai Bhim.