NEW DELHI: President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday said that films are not just an industry limited to trade and mode of entertainment but an effective medium of creating awareness and spreading sensibility.
Addressing the film fraternity and the artists as change-makers, she said that through their films, they pen a lively introduction to the diverse reality of Indian society. “Cinema is both; a document of our society and also a medium to improve it and their (filmmakers) work connected the people with each other,” Murmu said.
She was speaking at 69th edition of the national film awards ceremony in the national capital. Besides different category awards, the president conferred prestigious DadaSaheb Phalke Award to veteran actor Waheeda Rehman on the occasion.
Extending her wishes to noted actor, who has acted in several cult movies such as Pyasa and Guide, Murmu said that she had established herself at the pinnacle of the film industry with her art and personality.
“Even in her personal life, she had made her mark as a woman of dignity, self-confidence and originality. She chose many films in which her roles broke many barriers typically associated with women. Waheeda ji has set an example that women themselves should also take initiative for women empowerment,” said the president.
The film about the mass exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from Kashmir—The Kashmir Files (TKF)—has won the Nargis Dutt award for best film on national integration at the National Film Awards. Pallavi Joshi bagged the best actress award in a supporting role for the same film. Telugu film actor Allu Arjun was accorded the best actor award for Pusha-The Rising Part 1 while Alia Bhatt and Kriti Sanon shared the best actress award for their role in Gangubai Kathiyawadi, a biographical crime drama film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Mimi, comic drama based on a social issue, respectively.
R Madhavan’s Rocketry: The Nambi Effect bagged the Best Feature Film award. However, SS Rajamouli’s RRR was adjudicated best popular film providing wholesome entertainment.
Murmu said that the award ceremony paints a picture of the diversity of India and the unity inherent in it. She added that the talented people present at the ceremony had given meaningful expression to many languages, regional characteristics, social beliefs, achievements and problems and that people from many generations and classes came together at the National Film Awards.
Speaking on the occasion, union minister for information and broadcasting Anurag Singh Thakur said, "today nothing is regional, if the content is good, regional content will find a global audience."