The outrage over Akshay Kumar winning the prestigious National Award for his performance in ‘Rustom’, has been questioned by Priyadarshan – the chairperson of the feature film section for the National Film Awards.
Questioning the selective outrage, the ‘Hera Pheri’ director said “I have heard of all that and I will answer it in a simple way. When Ramesh Sippy was jury head Amitabh Bachchan won. When Prakash Jha was head of the jury, Ajay Devgn won. None questioned at that time. So why all these questions are cropping up today?”
The director also said the National Award for Akshay Kumar recognised his performance in both Airlift and Rustom – but since the rule book required the jury to pick just one film, Rustom was mentioned in the list of award winners.
“Akshay was given the best actor on the basis of his performance in two films – Airlift and Rustom. It was the jury’s decision. One performance was dramatic and one was realistic. But according to the rule book, only one film can be mentioned and Rustom was mentioned in the list. But the award recognises his performance in both the movies”
On Friday, Akshay Kumar, one of the biggest names in the industry today, joined a elite list of mainstream actors who have found recognition from the National Awards – which is considered by many to be the most credible film award in the country.