New Delhi: A film on the Statue Of Unity will receive a National Award in the shadow of the monument itself when the country’s top cinema honours make a rare journey out of Delhi this month.

The 72nd National Film Awards ceremony will be held at Ekta Nagar, formerly Kevadia, in Gujarat on September 22, with President Droupadi Murmu presenting the honours, officials said Monday.

The choice gives this year’s ceremony a distinctly symbolic setting. Ekta Nagar is home to the 597-foot Statue of Unity dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018. Among those being honoured is filmmaker Aanand L Rai, who has won Best Direction in the non-feature category for Statue Of Unity: Ekta Ka Prateek.

The government has not yet publicly spelt out the reason for shifting the ceremony from Delhi or indicated whether taking the awards to different parts of the country will become a regular practice.

The move nevertheless breaks with a long-established pattern. Instituted in 1954, the National Film Awards have overwhelmingly been presented in Delhi, with Vigyan Bhawan hosting most ceremonies. They have, however, travelled outside the capital before. The 17th National Film Awards were presented at the University Centenary Auditorium in Madras, now Chennai, on November 21, 1970.

The winners of the 72nd edition, recognizing films of 2024, were announced in July. Article 370 was named Best Feature Film, with Yami Gautam winning Best Actress for the same film. Mammootty and Kartik Aaryan will share the Best Actor award for Bramayugam and Chandu Champion, respectively.

Randeep Hooda won Best Debut Director for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, while Rajkumar Periasamy was named Best Director for Amaran. Telugu science-fiction film Kalki 2898 AD won Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, and Tamil film Captain Miller was named Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social and Environmental Values.

By taking the ceremony to Ekta Nagar, the Centre is also placing one of its premier cultural events at a location increasingly projected as a national destination built around Patel, unity and state-led tourism development.

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Mumbai: The MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) has criticized the Centre for holding this year’s National Film Awards ceremony in Gujarat instead of Delhi.

NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar alleged politicians from Gujarat were diverting national events to the state because they feared losing power. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray accused the govt of promoting Gujarat and diminishing Mumbai’s stature.

UBT MP Sanjay Raut asked whether the awards were a “Vibrant Gujarat” event. NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule said the national capital alone should host such functions.

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This year, the National Film Awards ceremony will break with convention and move outside Delhi for the first time in decades. The last time this happened was in 1970, when the event was held in Chennai instead of at Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan. The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting said the annual awards will now be held in different parts of the country: a move aimed at taking the ceremony beyond the national capital. And for the 72nd edition, the National Film Awards will be held in Ekta Nagar, Gujarat, on September 22.

Sources say arrangements are underway to take guests from Delhi to Kevadia for the event.

Before the announcement that the awards will have a new venue every year, some questioned the selection of Gujarat for the ceremony.

Filmmaker Rahul Dholakia wrote in a post on X, “I have no particular love lost for Delhi hosting the National Film Awards, but I question the shift to Gujarat. Why Gujarat? Why are you breaking the tradition of presenting the award in another city/ state – then why not give that honor to a state that has contributed to cinema? Like Maharashtra or Kerala or Tamil Nadu. Even a city like Hyderabad... why go to Gujarat?”

Later, in an official statement, the I&B Ministry specified that the event would be hosted in various cities. “In a major policy initiative, it has been decided by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to hold National Film Awards in various parts of the country taking it beyond the National Capital,” the statement said.

Filmmaker Aanand L Rai has confirmed that he is not associated with the upcoming Tumbbad 2, citing creative reasons. The horror-thriller, which gained cult status after its re-release last year, is being produced by Sohum Shah and stars Alia Bhatt.

Explaining his absence from the project, Rai, who produced the 2018 film, says, “For some reason nahin, aur woh creative reasons hain. What you want is a certain kind of freedom to make decisions when you are creating something.”

Calling Tumbbad “a fantastic film”, he adds, “Mere liye, woh kahani jitni khoobsurat hoke wahaan pahunchi hui thi, main uske aage nahin jaana chah raha tha. But all the best to the team who is making it now. They will make a great film, but I keep the decision to myself what film I want to join.” Rai, who recently won a National Award for the documentary Statue Of Unity: Ekta Ka Prateek, says the honour has reinforced his interest in non-feature storytelling.

“Awards and rewards sar aankhon par, but it’s the love and being a vessel of a poignant story that matters to me. This kind of an award gives you confidence that your existence matters,” he says.

The filmmaker plans to begin work on his next directorial in 2027, with a possible release by the end of that year or in 2028. He adds that Indian filmmakers need to explore documentaries more deeply: “We need to learn more in the non-feature category. It’s a different form of storytelling and the filmmakers in our industry need to learn a lot more when it comes to this form,” he ends.