President Ram Nath Kovind delivered the National Film Awards 2018 but the function was shadowed by the absence of many awardees as 50 of them decide to skip the event after they had learnt that only 11 awards will be presented by President Ram Nath Kovind.
Instead Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani and minister of state Rajyavardhan Rathore presented the remaining awards, which was unheard of in the history of National Film Awards distribution.
Speaking on the occasion, the President said that our films both represent and contribute to the diversity that is India’s biggest strength. In their narrative our films inspire us to stay true to the ideals of our civilisation and of our shared society. They educate and they entertain. They also hold a mirror to the social challenges that we still have to overcome. And they do this in a language that is universal.
The President said that films are made in a variety of languages in India, from Bhojpuri to Tamil, Marathi to Malayalam to several others. And yet cinema is a language in itself. Hindi cinema has probably done more than any other institution to popularise Hindi as a language across the country. One doesn’t have to be a Bengali to appreciate the humanism and the nuance of a Satyajit Ray or a Ritwik Ghatak. We need not know Telugu to be mesmerised by the epic of “Bahubali”. And let us not forget that A.R. Rahman – who has won the National Award again – made an early impression even among those who did not understand the Tamil words of the songs, but were nevertheless enchanted by his music.
