How can Dibakar return an award that was not his, asks producer

In a letter addressed to the President of India and the prime minister 11 other artistes who had joined Dibakar in returning their awards, wrote, "It is not just artists and writers and filmmakers who are angry at what is going on; even the common people are disgusted and afraid at the sheer impunity of those who indulge in communal violence." However, it now transpires that the national award won by 'Khosla Ka Ghosla' was not Dibakar's to give away...  read more

Khosla Ka Ghosla' producer: Dibakar can't return joint award

Filmmaker Dibakar Banerjee faced criticism on the social media for announcing on October 28 his intention to return the National Award he won for his debut film, Khosla Ka Ghosla.
The backlash was triggered after the film's producer Savita Raj Hiremath and actor Anupam Kher, who played the central character in the film, said that the National Award being returned by Banerjee was won in the Best Film category, which lauds the work of the entire team...  read more

Not Dibakar Banerjee's award to return, tweets 'Khosla Ka Ghosla' producer; Raveena Tandon calls him a 'joke'

Director Dibakar Banerjee joined 11 other filmmakers and returned the National Award, which was conferred to the hit film "Khosla Ka Ghosla".
Dibakar returned the award in support of Film and Television Institute of India students and raised the issue of 'growing intolerance in the country'.
However, his decision didn't go down well with the producer of "Khosla Ka Ghosla" Savita Raj Hiremath, who tweeted saying that the award was for Best Film and not for Best Director.

"People work for this honour all their lives, we were lucky to receive it for our first film. Why would I give up something so dear for a cause which seems politically motivated? I don't see anything having gone drastically wrong with the country in the last year-and-a-half. If anything, the protests by a particular group are only maligning India's image," Hiremath told Mumbai Mirror. ...  read more

Mumbai: Talking points

IFrom ghar wapsi (re-conversions) to award wapsi; the country witnessed a number of wapsis since Narendra Modi came to power. It all started with noted writer Nayantara Sahgal returning her prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in protest against what she the called the "vanishing space" for diversity. Then, 24 writers returned their awards in protest against the PM not speaking about the persecution of free thinkers in the country. What followed later were heated debates on national television and social media...  read more

Controversy is in fashion: Savita Raj

I was into advertising in Delhi. During those days, I worked with people like Pradeep Sarkar, Shantanu Moitra, Sujit Sarkar and Jaydeep Sahni. All these people moved to films and shifted base to Mumbai, so I got inspired, actually. Also, I felt that it was time to grow from advertising to something bigger. I was getting bored of working within the brief given by clients and I wanted to expand my creativity beyond those fixed boundaries. And films were the only medium to do that...  read more

Why fuss so much when intolerance is not new; it’s been around since 1947

There's a tweet going around, which says it all: "Nowadays when I get invited for an awards show, I'm not sure whether they are giving it out or taking it back."
The issue that has now grabbed the nation’s attention is what the opposition parties are calling "the growing intolerance being encouraged by the government." Others argue it is only a perception....  read more