Niharika Lal (BOMBAY TIMES; June 1, 2020)

Every year, the National Film Awards (NFA) are announced in April, and the ceremony takes place in May (except last year, when awards were delayed due to the elections). This year, however, there hasn’t been any announcement about the same. Due to the Coronavirus lockdown, there have been no jury meetings and no online viewing arrangements, too.

Sources inform that the NFA jury was to meet in February, but the meeting was postponed to March-end. However, days before the meeting, the lockdown happened, and since then, there has been no communication. Even though government offices have opened with less occupancy, and film festivals and award ceremonies have made arrangements for their jury to watch films online, no such arrangements have been made yet for the NFA.

Filmmakers and actors say that the NFA announcement helps filmmakers, especially for regional films, to get a release, when the film has no stars. Anuj Tyagi, filmmaker and co-director, The Last Colour, asks, “Venice festival is happening, and Cannes is announcing its official selection in the first week of June. Why is the government not announcing anything about the NFA? We wait for it the whole year. It’s not a public event — it’s 15-20 jury members watching films in an auditorium. They must have the jury meet and announce the winners soon.” We reached out to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry officials, but they refused to comment on the issue.