'I think Ash deserved the award'

Madhur Bhandarkar still cannot believe that his film Page 3 won the National Award for Best Film and Best Screenplay.

Though the film was released in January 2005, it was certified by the censor board in 2003.

The ecstatic director explains, "My film got delayed because of the tsunami. When Chandni Bar had won the National award, I was thrilled. But I'm ecstatic about the National award for Page 3. When I started making the film, everyone laughed at me. They said no one would understand the concept of a socialitie's story; that people in the interiors would reject it outright. The film has surprised me and everyone else. I think the National Award jury must have liked the fact that the film tackles several socially relevant issues all at once. I feel a film that has a positive message for the audience always has a better chance at  the National Awards."

Madhur is grateful to his entire cast and crew. "Page 3 wouldn't have worked without them."

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The biggest surprise was the Best Actor and Best Actress awards which went to Saif Ali Khan for Hum Tum and Tara for the Kannada film Haseena respectively.

Until the eleventh hour, Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai were the hot favourites for Veer-Zaara and Raincoat respectively.

Saif, tucked far away in Italy, was unavailable for comment. Even his mother Sharmila Tagore could not get through to inform him.

Says Rituparno Ghosh, "I feel very sad that my heroine lost out in Raincoat. I think Ash deserved the award. However, I'm sure the girl who won was good too."

Yash Chopra's Veer-Zaara and Cheran's Tamil film Autograph, which tied up for the Most Popular Award have left no frowns on any faces.

Says Ghosh, "Veer-Zaara was significant for its Indo-Pak theme. As for the Tamil film, it was recommended by Mani Ratnam. So it must be good."

Ashutosh Gowariker's Swades won Mahesh Aney the Best Cinematographer's award and Udit Narayan the Best Male Playback singer for Yeh tara.

Shyam Benegal, whose Bose: The Forgotten Hero won the award for National Integration, has been in the running almost every year.

In fact, a common thread and a prevalent grouse against the National Awards is that the same names and faces recur in the lists each year. There're hardly any first-time winners in this year's list as well.