Radhika Bhirani (HINDUSTAN TIMES; April 25, 2020)

With the Covid-19 pandemic leaving scores of key events across the globe deferred, the 67th edition of the National Film Awards, also stands delayed indefinitely as of now. May 3, the designated date for the event every year, falls in the lockdown period, owing to the ongoing global crisis.

According to sources, no discussions have taken place regarding the annual gala, as officials are currently concentrating, more importantly, on tackling the Coronavirus situation.

Filmmaker Rahul Rawail, who was the National Film Awards jury head last year, says the process of putting together a jury was “about to start” before the Coronavirus scare took a more serious turn in India.

Last year also, the awards announcement and distribution got delayed because of the general elections. The winners were eventually announced in August, and the ceremony took place in December. Usually, the winners decided by an independent jury are declared in April every year, followed by the ceremony on May 3. Now, with hardly any movie releases in 2020, Rawail feels “it won’t be fair to have” a National Film Awards next year.

“I think this year has practically gone off from the calendar as far as the film and TV industry goes. The government is as worried as film people are, but we can’t expect them to stop everything to look after films,” the filmmaker adds.