Film fraternity in Kerala is up in arms against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan whom the former accuses of humiliating the State Film Award winners. The top awards for Malayalam films released in 2019 were to be given away by the Chief Minister at a glittering function held at Thiruvananthapuram late on Friday evening.
The star-studded show turned out to be an event which the award winners, the patrons of Malayalam film industry and the cultural icons of the State would like to forget reportedly because of the “rude” attitude of Pinarayi Vijayan.
All award winners including Suraj Venharammoodu (best actor), Kani Kusruthi (best actress) and veteran director Hariharan, who was honoured with J C Daniel for his Life term achievements were in for a shock as Pinarayi Vijayan refused to hand over the citations and plaques to them. The awards were kept on a table and the winners were asked to take it straight away without coming anywhere near the Chief Minister.
Officials of the Public Relations Department claimed that this was done as a precautionary measure in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. “If that is the case, they could have postponed the award distribution ceremony to another occasion. The award winners were subjected to Covid-19 test on Thursday itself before ushering in to Tagore Theatre were the function was held,” G Suresh Kumar, producer eminence, told The Pioneer.
Suresh Kunar, who never hesitates to tell the world the woes faced by film industry, said the Government instead of inviting the film personalities and insulting them like this could have deputed some senior officers to the residences of the winners and handed over the awards. “We have never seen such things happening even during the rule of Maharajas and dictators from anywhere in the country,” said Suresh Kumar.
An award winner questioned the logic behind the Chief Minister’s action. “We were asked to assemble in the capital city on Thursday and were subjected to Covid-19 tests. It was only after confirming that we were not afflicted with Covid-19 we were allowed for the award function. But what happened is unfortunate and condemnable. It has lowered the dignity of the profession as well as that of the chief minister,” said the award winner who did not want his name to be quoted for fear of political consequences.
Prof V T Rema, a lead cultural figure in the State expressed her shock over the manner in which film personalities were humiliated by the Kerala Government. “The same awardees were shouting from rooftops in 2018 when national film awards were handed over by the then minister Smrithi Irani.
The President of India had left the venue after giving away the top honours while rest of the awards were presented by the minister. I remember Malayalam film artists lambasting the President for the same. where are they now?” asked Prof Rema.
Kerala is reeling under the third wave of the Covid-19 onslaught as the Test Positivity Ratio stays above the 11 point mark. Though the chief minister had declared Kerala as free of Covid-19 on May 8, 2020, the State diagnosed more than 6200 new patients on Saturday making it the State with second highest number of pandemic patients.
Oommen Chandi, former chief minister, expressed concern over the ever increasing number of Covid-19 cases in the State. “The State accounts for half the number of Covid-19 cases diagnosed across the nation and this proves the hollowness of the claim made by Pinarayi Vijayan,” Chandi, the chief ministerial candidate of the Congress party said in a statement on Sunday while condemning the inhuman treatment meted out to film personalities by the Kerala Government.
Caption: K Jayakumar, winner of J C Daniel Award (Kerala's equivalent of Dada Saheb Phalke award) is seen disappointed as Chief Minister Vijayan refuses to hand over the award.
Caption: Film Academy Chairman Kamaluddeen asks Suraj, best award winner, to take the award from the table and not to come near the chief minister.
