Film(Not) Fare Awards

Filmfare Hazards !!!

The more I see desperate attempts to ape the Oscars, the more I feel sad. Watching Filmfare awards last weekend was a trauma and every year this trauma is just magnifying many a times. The question that comes to my mind is why is it so difficult for the World’s biggest film industry to organize one Award ceremony, which has got everything correct. Whether it’s the overall presentation or the awards itself, everything looks so amateurish. This year on year showcase of substandard and tacky production doubled with some of the most horrifying Award choices makes it so embarrassing.

History and legends have made Filmfare one of the most prestigious trophies over the years. If it would have been maintained at that I think it would have still been one of the most desired ones. But what makes it problematic is it comes out of the stable of a publication house and over the last couple of decades it’s the film fraternity which has started to rule the roost as the business of this publication house depends on our so called chocolate stars. And then there are other Publication houses and Channels who have floated their parallel version of awards. SO today barring the National Awards there are no awards that one can see and feel nice about.

Not that Hollywood doesn’t have different Awards. They too have Golden Globe, apart from Oscars, but the Oscars still holds the respect and honour intact as its promoted and presented by the Academy of Motion Pictures at Hollywood. So if we see closely it comes from a body that is reckoned to be the Mecca of Motion Pictures and its overall process of selection, nomination and awards doesn’t cause much controversy. Most importantly it commands enormous respect worldwide.

The question I see is why are we so overwhelmed with this format of Song and dance, tacky comperes, farcical nominations and doubly farcical award choices, which cannot be remembered the even the next day of the awards. On one hand we want to match the overall show note to note and end up making a big joke of everything. Stars and production houses go to any extent to buy out awards and then shamelessly come and make stupid, full of themselves speeches which leaves a complete bad taste in people’s mouth.

Last few years Shahrukh Khan, has gone to any extent to win awards. And this could be seen blatantly happening on the TV screen. SRK would strike a deal to feature as the cover story for 6 out of 12 months for the film magazine, agree to compere the award show or do one shoddy song and dance number for the show, ensuring some excitement amongst the crowd and the result – The Best Actor Award !!! And then the same shameless SRK would come and make a complete shoddy, non emotional speech (as if people are dying to listen to any crap that comes out his mind). God !!! Save us from such pompous souls.

Come to think of it this same Filmfare awards just a few decades earlier was awarding Naseeruddin Shah and Shaban Azmi for their performances in Masoom and Sparsh and Kamal Haasan for Sagar. Whats happening now? Its such a shame that one of your most competent actors – Aamir Khan, does not acknowledge your awards. Well if this is the most prestigious of the lot then they should have gone any distance to have convinced everyone of its fairness and transparency. Every year we see the same people calling shots – Yash Raj guys, Karan Johar, Saif, Salman, Shahrukh and now the Bachchans. What is this? Where are the others?

Why don’t we as the world’s no. one industry have a Motion Picture Academy? Why don’t we take all our movies in toto and bite the bullet to say, Mohanlal’s performance in Malaylam film “Thanmatra” was the best performance of the year by a male actor. Why cant we be honest and say Arshad Warsi was classic in Seher, or Amitabh Bachchan’s best performance was in Viruddh. Why are we reluctant in awarding Anupam Kher’s performance in “Mane Gandhi ko Nahin Maara”.

Why am writing these? In today’s scenario its all about lobbies and playing to them. So Filmfare is busy playing to these lobbies – The Chopras, The Johars and The Bachchans. Till the time we have such farcical things happening, we can kiss the real talents goodbye.

But, hail Madhur Bhandarkar for Page 3, Arshad Warsi for Seher, Sudhir Mishra, KK and Chitrangada along with Shiney for Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, and many more such soulful creations.