National Award winning films waiting to get their dues

If the fate of some films is any indication winning a National Award is not enough for the movie to get a theatrical release Three films mdash The Coffin Maker Liarrsquos Dice Astu and Kaphal mdash that won National Awards this year are yet to get a proper Friday release Saeed Mirza who heads the jury for National Awards concedes that this is a reality ldquoIt is true that many awardwinning films have not released yet It could be lack of marketing and distribution it could be a certain sociopolitical and economic situation but thatrsquos no reason to deny their validity It doesnrsquot deter us from judging these films for the National AwardsrdquoGeetanjali Thapa may have won a National Award this year in the Best Actress category for her work in Liarrsquos Dice but the film is yet to release in cinema hallsIn such a scenario should the government make it mandatory for National Awardwinning films to get at least a oneweek release in cinema halls Mirza replies with a matteroffact question ldquoWho does one put pressure on in order to get these film screened in cinema hallsrdquoNaseerudin Shah and Ratna PathakShah in The Coffin Maker which won this yearrsquos National Award for the Best Feature Film in English It awaits a commercial releaseActor Adil Husain who is best known for his role in Gauri Shindersquos English Vinglish 2012 stars in the National Awardwinning film Lessons in Forgetting He wants the government to formulate a policy where feted movies get a theatrical release He says ldquoMy film got a limited release through PVR Directorrsquos Rare but they donrsquot really have enough money to market the film and reach out to a wider audience I think there is a need to make it mandatory for cinema halls to screen such films for at least a weekrdquoFilmistaan bagged the National Award for the Best Feature Film in Hindi in 2012 but it is releasing only in June this yearVeena Bakshi who directed the Naseeruddin Shahstarrer The Coffin Maker mdash it won this yearrsquos National Award for the Best Feature Film in English and is yet to release in cinemas mdash says ldquoWe have been in talks with a corporate house even before the film bagged a National Award and now we are hoping that winning this honour will help the film get some distributors But yes I feel that the loss of traditional distributorship is affecting the sale of films like theserdquoThe Usha Jadhavstarrer Dhag won three National Awards in 2012 it released in theatres only last monthThe success of films like Ship of Theseus and The Lunch Box has definitely added to filmmakersrsquo confidence Veena adds ldquoThe success of Ship of Theseus lies in the fact that it opened in five theatres and its audience grew due to word of mouth These films will not set the cash register ringing within a weekend But it will bring in audiences over timerdquoRandeep Hooda and Naseeruddin Shah in The Coffin Maker which is yet to get a theatrical releaseIn the earlier days films once completed would be screened for distributors whorsquod then go with their gut feeling Trade analyst Taran Adarsh says ldquoBack then films were sold territorywise Also winning a National Award is often construed as a sign of the film being more arthouse and thus offering less commercial viability This attitude has not really changed Unlike in the West where if a film is nominated for the Oscars it immediately gets screened in cinema hallsrdquoNawazuddin Siddiqui in Liarrsquos Dice that was completed more than a year ago It still doesnrsquot have a release dateSimilarly Geetanjali Thapa may have won the Best Actress award for her work in Liarrsquos Dice But the film that was completed more than a year ago hasnrsquot got a theatrical release Nawazuddin Siddiqui who plays a lead role in the film says ldquoThe film has been doing the rounds of the festival circuit for some time now Thanks to the National Award the film should now get a better release The filmrsquos producers are planning to release it soonrdquo He also feels that often films are victims of lsquobad luckrsquo ldquoEven a beautiful film like Aankhon Dekhi barely got noticed due to the lack of marketingrdquo he saysIt may be pointed out here that Nitin Kakkarrsquos film Filmistaan bagged the National Award for the Best Feature Film in Hindi in 2012 But the film is releasing in June this year mdash thanks to UTV and Shringar Films mdash after a gap of two yearsShyam Shroff from Shringar films adds ldquoWhen we came on board as its distributors Filmistaan was already ready and it had received its certification It was a mutual decision to edit the film further and give it a major marketing fillip We even recorded an additional audio track and then UTV came on boardOf course all this happened over timerdquoBikas Mishra the editor of the website Dear Cinema points out that a new wave of cinema has now hit Bollywood ldquoThese are films that have been reaching out to audiences both in terms of storytelling and distribution Ship of Theseus found a supporter in Kiran Rao and UTV the documentary Gulabi Gang has now won the award for the Best Film on Social Issues These are exciting times for independent filmmakers as the channels of release have certainly expanded Then again releasing such a film continues to be challenging because you still need a starpresenter or a mainstream studio to back your indie productionrdquoOther instances include the Usha Jadhavstarrer Dhag 2012 which won three National Awards in 2012 the film released in theatres only last month Marathi films such as Shala Anumati and Samhita too released more than a year after winning top honours Another example is Priyadarshanrsquos bilingual film Kanchivaram that also released a year after it bagged won two National Awards