WHAT’S WRONG WITH DABANGG RECEIVING THE NATIONAL AWARD?
The Results of the 58th National Awards were announced last week (Check the complete list here: https://mouthshut.com/diary/aahcurpls/Results-of-the-58th-National-Awards). The winners list seemed justified to many since regional films were given as much prominence as Hindi flicks and also because jury almost succeeded in coming up with unbiased list of winners. However, the award for the Best Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment went to 2010’s biggest hit Dabangg, raising lots of eyebrows. Some eminent journos said they are in a state of disbelief! Their opinions were echoed by many movie buffs too!
All this has really shocked as well as amused me. That’s because Dabangg was one of the most loved films of 2010. It had created frenzy at the time of its release. People loved Salman’s Chulbul Pandey act. Munni song went on to become the biggest chartbuster. Not only single screen crowd but even multiplex audience was reported to whistle and clap during the key action scenes. It gets high TRPs whenever it is aired on TV. Critics normally give thumbs down to such masala action entertainers but Dabangg was showered with 3 and even 4 star ratings! Surely, a part of audience rejected the film but majority of them wholeheartedly loved it.
If this is the case, why create a hullabaloo if Dabangg gets a National Award? Maybe because Dabangg wasn’t intellectual cinema (which is normally associated with National Awards) as it boasts of mindless and illogical scenes, particularly protagonist’s shirt automatically tearing apart, as if having a mind of its own! So suddenly you feel ‘ashamed’ of the film you loved the most last year? A clear case of double standards wherein people love to see such films but don’t want it to get honour and recognition as it isn’t intellectual cinema! Agreed that there were other contenders for the award like (and countless others in non-Hindi Ishqiya, My Name Is Khan, Tere Bin Laden, Do Dooni Chaar, Band Baaja Baaraat, Enthiran/Robot languages) etc. Also I myself loved these films more than Dabangg. But one can’t deny the fact that Dabangg was the film that provided ‘wholesome entertainment’, which is what the award is all about.
The issue is open to debate. Feel free to post your views!
