National Film Awards: Why Gujarat, asks Dholakia, echoes Uddhav, Raut

The decision to move the National Film Awards ceremony from Delhi to Gujarat's Ekta Nagar has triggered a political and industry backlash, with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray accusing the Centre of trying to "create a wall" between Gujarat and the rest of the country and party MP Sanjay Raut calling for a boycott of the event.

The controversy gained further traction after National Award-winning filmmaker Rahul Dholakia — a Mumbai-born Gujarati who has directed acclaimed films like Parzania and Raees — questioned why Gujarat had been chosen when the ceremony was being moved out of Delhi for the first time in decades. Dholakia said if the government wanted to take the awards to another state, it could have chosen major film-producing centres such as Maharashtra, Kerala or Tamil Nadu, or Hyderabad.

The 72nd National Film Awards will be presented by President Droupadi Murmu at Ekta Nagar, formerly Kevadia, on 22 September. The decision marks a break with the long-standing practice of holding the ceremony in Delhi, where the first National Film Awards were presented at Vigyan Bhawan in 1954 and most subsequent ceremonies have been held.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, 8 September, Thackeray questioned why a national event could not be held in Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru or the capitals of other states. "They are trying to build a wall between Gujarat and the rest of the country. Answers must be sought from them (BJP) as to why they are doing this," he said.

Raut questioned whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "of Gujarat alone" and said the National Film Awards, being a national programme, would normally be expected to be held in the national capital. "Is this a Vibrant Gujarat event?" he asked, calling the people behind the decision "dimagi Naxals", referring to Modi's recent coining of the term to describe opponents of the government.

Raut alleged that the venue had been shifted ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls and accused the government of diminishing the importance of both the national capital and a national award. He also urged artists to boycott the ceremony. "Artists should not go to Gujarat. Any artist proud of their country will refuse the award," Raut said.

Dholakia, while questioning the choice of Gujarat, said he had "no particular love lost for Delhi hosting the National Film Awards" but asked why the government had chosen Gujarat when breaking with tradition. He pointed to Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad as places with a stronger connection to Indian cinema.

The government has described the move as part of a broader policy to take the National Film Awards beyond the national capital and hold them in different parts of the country. The ministry of information and broadcasting has not publicly given a specific reason for choosing Ekta Nagar for this year's ceremony or indicated whether the awards will rotate between states in future.

The choice of Ekta Nagar also gives the ceremony a distinctly Gujarat-centric setting. The town is home to the 597-foot Statue of Unity dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, inaugurated by Modi in 2018. This year's National Film Awards also include an award for a film on the Statue of Unity.

The National Film Awards have occasionally been held outside Delhi — the 17th edition was held in Chennai in 1971 — but the ceremony has otherwise been overwhelmingly associated with the national capital. The latest decision therefore represents a significant departure from that tradition.

With PTI inputs