Malayalam filmmaker Jayaraj, who received the National Film Award for the Best Director on Thursday, slammed the other artistes who refused to accept the awards from Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani. He said that the protesters should also return the cash award that has been deposited in their bank accounts.
About 68 award-winners boycotted the function in New Delhi after they learned that most of them would not receive the awards from the President as was the custom.
V.C. Abhilash, the director of Alorukkam, which was selected as the most socially relevant film, said that Irani was shameless to present the awards despite the boycott. Her body language reflected her determination to give out the awards usually distributed by the President, Abhilash said on Manorama News. He added that he was not intolerant to Irani. “If that were the case, I should have had a problem with the President, who is an RSS man,” he said.
Jayaraj and playback singer K.J. Yesudas were the only Malayalis to receive the awards. Actors Fahadh Faasil, who was selected as the best supporting actor, Parvathy, who received a special jury mention, and a few other artistes stayed away from the function to prove a point.
Ironically, Yesudas and Jayaraj had signed a mass petition along with Faasil and Parvathy before attending the function.