Well, twisting this NA justification, here and there!! I dont buy!!

I know people forgot twoX Bhagat, Anil, Raveena , Karisma controversy! What the heck!

For how long you will be excited to see A GOAT THAT GROWS GREEN GRASS!

There is always a JUSTIFICATION!

I think you're missing the point I'm trying to make arsh. Oh well. To each their own, I guess.

This is a fukin outrage. I don't have anything against Saif. That being said what the hell was so special about Saif's performance in HUM TUM. It was your average Bollywood movie with decent performances. . In my opinion Kazcha, a wonderful Malayalam film about a orphaned Gujarati boy who ends up in Kerala should've won the best film award. A big Fuk You to the National Award committee. So we can expect DUS to win for best picture and Tushar Kapoor as the best actor for next year.

Some answers like in this interview

http://us.rediff.com/movies/2005/jul/14sudhir.htm

IMO Indian awards are flawed (esp. the political correctness that features in'em) and this year is further proof to it.

Now i have not see 'Hum Tum' - should bother seeing it ??

I liked it but its nothing great. See it if you feel like it, but its not a must-see.

I liked it too. It's a sweat natured film, performances are short of anything award worthy, but competent. Later last year I saw Before Sunset, which is such a lovely and almost profound film, it often reminded me of Hum Tum, the letter while admirable, is alot less poignant.

Thanks Guys - i think i will check it out over the weekend.

Did'nt he say it was UNANIMOUS!??

The Rediff Interview / Sudhir Mishra

'I voted for Shah Rukh Khan'

July 14, 2005


The National Awards, which were announced on Wednesday, raised quite a few eyebrows.



Saif Ali Khan bagged the Best Actor award for Hum Tum and Tara bagged the Best Actress award for the Kannada film, Haseena. Madhur Bhandarkar's Page 3 won the Best Film, while Buddadeb Dasgupta got the Best Director award.



Jury head Sudhir Mishra tells Subhash K Jha why these films won the awards.



Why Saif Ali Khan?



Why not? What's wrong with his performance? I think people in the industry have reacted positively to his selection. Why must we always go by the conventional parameters of an award-worthy performance?



'Sharmila helped Saif win award?'



Saif's selection is in recognition of another kind of performance. You don't need to do a serious role to win awards. Seen within the context of the other performances -- there was no Mohanlal giving an outstanding performance this year -- Saif in Hum Tum was the right choice. John Wayne got an Oscar for True Grit, which wasn't his best performance.



They honoured Wayne because he was dying of cancer.



Maybe. My point is, actors don't always get awards for their best work. The jury was unanimous about Saif. All the 16 members put up their hands when his name came up.



The buzz was that Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai were strong contenders. I don't know where that started. Only I voted for Shah Rukh Khan. He surprised me in Swades. Everybody wanted Saif. They wanted to honour another kind of performance. They thought Saif was honest and subtle; there isn't one false note in his acting. The jury has proven that a light-toned performance can get recognised.



'Ash deserved the award'



Has the Best Actress award gone to a Kannada actress to balance the regional map?



No. Aishwarya Rai in Raincoat was a hot contender. Personally, I was surprised by her performance. In fact, Raincoat was a top choice for the Best Film category.



Tara's performance in Haseena is very accomplished. She gets to do so many things. The whole film rests on her shoulders. It's a very gutsy film by a very competent director. Yes, there was near-unanimity on the award. Tara just slipped into the character.



We agreed on almost all the awards. And I was surprised that not one person from the industry or the (information and broadcasting) ministry tried to influence the awards.



Madhur Bhandarkar's Page 3 for Best Film?



It's daring and satirical, savage and gutsy. Again, the jury was unanimous about this.



How can the awards for Best Film and Best Director be segregated?



We can't give both the awards to the same film. If we liked Page 3 for its completeness, we liked Buddhadeb Dasgupta's Swapner Din for its cinematic language. It may not be his best but the use of the camera, landscape and language are amazing.



Why do the usual suspects line up for awards every year?



I am dismayed by the lack of new talent. The young generation of filmmakers isn't coming up. In comparison, they're so timid and conventional. National awards have to express so many aspirations. We've recommended that the number of awards be reduced.



What is 'Wholesome Entertainment'?



I think it's a condescending award for the ones that get left out in the main categories. We gave it two films -- Veer-Zaara and Autograph. They represent two different film industries and cultures.

National Awards - Aishwarya And Shah Rukh , Victims Of Last Minute Manipulations
By: Abid
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Ever since Raveena Tandon got the National award for best actress in 'Daman' ( with her uncle McMohan 'Sambha' being a member of the jury , an announcement that provoked three members of the jury to quit) , every subsequent year has seen further deterioration . This year was supposed to be different with the feature film jury being headed by well-known and non-controversial filmmaker Sudhir Mishra . But ironically its the 52nd National awards (2005) which seems to have taken the cake as the best actor and actress awards seem to have been changed at the last minute . Till the evening before (July 12) , the ministry sources had the name of Aishwarya Rai and Shah Rukh for 'Raincoat' and 'Veer-Zaara' respectively . However Shah Rukh's name dissappeared in the morning but the list submitted ( in Shastri Bhavan) still had the name of Aishwarya Rai and was picked up by the News Channels . However , to the shock of the nation the official announcement had different winners !


In fact , so much heat was generated by the obvious manipulation that Sudhir Mishra had to convene a press conference and explain how 'Hum Tum' ( a scene to scene copy of 'When Harry Met Sally' by the director Kunal Kohli) was a thoroughly entertaining picture from Yash Raj !

how could the jurors go so low....even every tom dick and harry on the internet is saying that said didn't deserve it.

The real irony here is that had Shahrukh won for Swades, it would actually have been well-deserved for once.

Apunkachoice weighs in with their thoughts on Saif's National Award for the best actor.



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Saif’s National Award is well deserved

14th July 2005 22.23 IST

By Nitika Desai


“Acting should not be all about trembling lips. It can be equally difficult to skate through emotions,” said the Chairman of the Jury for Feature Films, Sudhir Mishra, defending the jury’s choice of selecting Saif Ali Khan over Shah Rukh Khan for this year’s National Award for the Best Actor.

High expectations of SRK fans were dashed on Thursday when Saif emerged as the winner of this year’s coveted Best Actor National Award for his performance in Hum Tum .

But was SRK’s intense and well-controlled portrayal of a foreign-returned youth discovering his homeland in Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Swades not good enough for a National Award?

Sudhir Mishra has the answer: “We felt that all the time actors are honoured only for heavy-duty performances. Shahrukh in Swades was not a bad performance. There were other performances also which were good. But here is an actor (Saif in Hum Tum) who is approaching a role in a different way.”

The 17-member jury – consisting of known names like Nagesh Kukunoor, Sandeep Sawant and Vinod Ganatra, besides Mishra himself – commended Saif for his “sheer ease, subtlety and spontaneity in portraying a complex and demanding role.”

Although the choice of the jury may not seem in consonance with the verdicts of other popular award shows this year – that gave the best actor statuettes to SRK – it would be unjust to detract any credit from Saif. His performance in Hum Tum may not be “intense”, but then, acting is not just about intensity.

The ease with which Saif underplayed his character in Hum Tum, an actor like SRK – who is given to larger-than-life personas and likes to bring unnecessary intensity in every single role he plays – couldn’t have done the same. And no matter how much the uptight critics pan the eminent jury’s decision, the truth is that Saif’s win is well deserved.

Saif winning is just ridiculous. It has nothing to do with the genre of the film, but his performance in the film just wasn't anything great. It imo wasn't even worthy to get a Filmfare/all those other award shows, so him getting a NA is mindboggling. They want to give it to light performances, then he is so much better in DCH. Hell, he was even better in KHNH than he was in HT.

Other funny part is Swades getting Best Cinematography. The camerawork in that film was by far the weakest aspect of the movie. I gave it a 9/10 rating and took off the 1 point mainly for the amateurish camerawork.

That film was sorely missing Anil Mehta

I I never saw people whining for Tabu twice! Shobna! or for Mr a Mrs Iyer, or for Munna Bhaii even!

People praised Jury's pick re Manoj and Punkhaj Kapoor last year!!

If you ask me Madhuri Dixit's Role with Grey shades in Pukar was much more commendable than Anil!

It seems like now these Nationals don't have any Guidelines! But just a bunch of wankas, try to follow their personal agendas!!

Saif was not WORTHY NATIONAL AWARD and that is FOR HUM TUM..is AS PREPOSTEROUS AS IT COULD BE!

I am not against SAIF, the guy has taken ages! To Shed his SISSY image and skirt chaser to become serious ACTOR!! He has come long way!

and I am not PRO SAROOK OR Tr aish EITHER!! But I dont think it was only SAIF and Sarook competing here!

He could have easily got BEST COMEDIAN role, like SHILPA SHETTY got(IRONIC) for FF etc..but then there were other political aspects to satisfy there!

Why did not RANI got NATIONAL for HUM TUM???

LOOKS like NATIONAL are following all other HINDI CINEMA awards to become another JOKE in the TOWN!

They have to include and patronize all regions from South to North etc!!

LONG time ago, Ajay was awarded an AWARD for ZAKHM, that actually should have gone to child star who portrayed his role as Boy, his acting was more substantial and laid strong footage for Devgund to stand upon!!

For one Lake scene..Karisma, gets BEST SUPPORTING for DTPH

Not Manisha, Nor Nana ever got any thing for Khamoshi? Neither SLB(when he was Sane)?
Excuse film was not sent in TIME what a joke?