‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’ director Kundan Shah returns National Award

Shah is known for making the iconic movie “Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron”.

Mumbai:Backing writers and others over the issue of “growing climate of intolerance” in the country, Booker Prize victor Arundhati Roy announced she would be returning her National Award for Best Screenplay for In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones, which she won in 1989, and said that she was “so proud” to join the writers, filmmakers and academics, who have done the same.

The 24 celebraties hoped their “symbolic gesture” persuades the government “to pay attention to our fears, that the warp and weft of our robust democracy might be coming apart in the current atmosphere”.

Mr. Shah, an alumnus of the Film Technology Institute of India (FTII) and director of the cult film Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, said he was sad to be giving up his national award, but said he had to do it to protest the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as FTII chairman.

“In the first place, I am not a huge fan of the National Awards”.

They, however, underlined their solidarity with the protesting students of FTII Pune and the 12 award-winning feature and documentary filmmakers, including Dibakar Banerjee and Anand Patwardhan, who had returned their awards on October 28.

“As filmmakers we stand with the students of FTII and are determined to not let them shoulder the entire burden of the protest”, they said in a letter to President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mirza, who was incidentally the last chairman of FTII, said, “They’re not separate issues”. The selection of the governing council reflects the government’s interference in cultural affairs. When few filmmakers make it a point to return their awards, few celebrities made an open statement that they can’t return the awards as it is their recognition. It’s appalling to see that the present appointments are based on sheer political affiliations rather than credentials.

Roy also said that she turned down the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2005 when the Congress was in power and asked to not to involve her in the politicaly motivated Congress-versus-BJP debate. My serial Police Station got banned in 1985 by Doordarshan but why repeat the mistakes we’ve made in the past. It’s no longer about intolerance, it’s torture and threatens everyone’s freedom…

“Y didn’t #KundanShah & #SaeedMirza return their awards after d #RadhabaiChawl incident where 5 women & a child were burnt alive? All I know is I have to raise my voice against this state of affairs”, said Mirza.