On Tuesday (13th February), it was announced that the forthcoming National Film Awards would no longer feature the names of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the late actress Nargis Dutt, under revised rules for the 70th edition of the National Film Awards. This alteration, which excludes the late Prime Minister and the renowned actress from the National Film Awards, marks one of twelve total modifications implemented.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has revised the 70th National Film Awards 2022 regulations, resulting in increased cash prizes and category adjustments. These modifications were unanimously agreed upon by the committee formed by the Modi government during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As per the changes made by the committee headed by the government, the Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film has now been renamed to the Best Debut Film for the Director. The Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration will now be called the ‘Best Feature Film on Promoting National, Social and Environmental Values’, merging the categories of social issues and environment conservation.
The amendments to the rules for the 70th National Film Awards 2022 encompass various enhancements, such as modifications to several awards and augmented cash prizes for various awards including the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award. The prize money for the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, which is given every year to a film personality for contribution to Indian cinema, has been increased from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh. The money for the film award, which was earlier divided between the producer and the director, will now go only to the director.
Apart from this, the prize money has been increased to Rs 3 lakh for the Swarna Kamal Award (Golden Lotus Award) and Rs 2 lakh for the Rajat Kamal Award (Silver Lotus Award) Winner in many sections. Earlier, it used to vary according to categories. The awards for ‘Best Animation Film’ and ‘Best Special Effects’ have been added to a new category called Best AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics) Film with two sections.
The ‘Best Audiography Section’, which had three sections honouring Sound Recordist, Sound Designer and Recordist of Mixed Track, will now be known as Best Sound Design. Its prize money has been increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh. Changes have also been made in the Best Music Direction section, which will now be known as ‘Best Background Music’.
A Special Jury Award has been discontinued, but the jury has the authority to confer two awards in the feature film and non-feature film categories of the National Film Awards. In the non-feature film section, some parts have been discontinued while the rest have been merged. A new award category has been started for the best script.
Two film sections have been created by combining the categories like Best Psychological Film, Best Science and Technology Film, Best Ad Film, Best Environmental Film including Agriculture, Best Film on Social Issues, Best Educational Film, Best Adventure Film and Best Investigative Film. The best feature and best non-feature films promoting social and environmental issues are the new two categories made. Special jury awards in the Best Film as well as the Non-Feature section on family values have been discontinued.
The committee, headed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Central Government, was headed by Additional Secretary of the Ministry Neerja Shekhar. It included filmmakers Priyadarshan, Vipul Shah, Haobam Paban Kumar, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Prasoon Joshi, S Nallamuthu as well as I&B’s Prithol Kumar and the ministry’s Director (Finance) Kamlesh Kumar Sinha.
