Actor Paresh Rawal has come forward to put some shocking statements against the Indian award culture, particularly due to his experience regarding national awards.
Sharing his story, the actor recalled the time he was shooting in Mauritius when he received a call from Mukesh Bhatt, informing him of his national award win for his 1993 film ‘Sir’.
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Soon after, he also got a call from filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi, who informed him that he had also won the ‘Best Actor National Award’ for Ketan Mehta’s ‘Sardar’.
While his excitement knew no bounds, he soon faced the unexpectedly harsh truth upon setting foot in Delhi. Despite winning the award for ‘Sir’, he did not get the award he was promised for ‘Sardar’, leading to him questioning several among the top brass regarding the same.
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He finally got an enlightening yet tough answer from politician T. Subbarami Reddy.
Reddy had said, “You people didn’t lobby. We did hard lobby… aggressive lobby… and Mammootty got it.”
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This left the actor in utter shock, as Mammootty went on to get the award for Vidheyan and Ponthan Mada in the 42nd National Film Awards back in 1994.
