Raw Deal for Technicians Even at National Awards: Resul Pookutty
The least you could do is respect the values we hold dear, says the Oscar-winning sound artiste.
advertisement
Oscar-winning sound artiste Resul Pookutty on Thursday expressed dissent over news that President Ram Nath Kovind will felicitate only 11 out of the total 137 awardees at the 65th National Film Awards ceremony here on Thursday.
"If the government of India cannot earmark three hours of its time, they should not bother giving us National Awards. More than 50 per cent of our sweat, you take it as entertainment tax, the least you could do is respect the values we hold dear," tweeted Pookutty, who has won a National Award in the past.
Now Pookutty has taken to Facebook to share a powerful post on how the President, by deciding to confer the National Award to only 11 of the 125 awardees, chose to ignore the talent and hard work of the technicians who are the main workforce of the film industry. It is this workforce that goes unacknowledged by the stars, the business, award shows, and now even the National Awards.
Read the full post here:
On Wednesday the awardees were informed that a majority of them will receive the honour from Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani, while only 11 of them will be felicitated by the President. Pookutty had last month had made his displeasure apparent after he questioned the award committee's decision in adjudging Best Audiography, which has gone to Mallika Das (Location Sound Recordist) for Village Rockstars and Sanal George (sound designer) and Justin A Jose (sound re-recording) for Walking With The Wind.
(With inputs from IANS)
(The Quint is now on WhatsApp. To receive handpicked stories on topics you care about, subscribe to our WhatsApp services. Just go to TheQuint.com/WhatsApp and hit send)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)