(a) whether some members of the Jury for National Film Awards had expressed
serious objections against the procedure followed for making the selections and
have tendered their resignation;
(b) if so, the details thereof alongwith reaction of the Government thereto;
(c) the procedure prescribed, if any for nominating members of the Jury; and
(d) the details of the composition of the present Jury including their background,
qualifications and the persons recommending their names for the purpose?
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING (SMT. SUSHMA SWARAJ)
(a), (b), (c) and (d) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA UN-STARRED QUESTION NO. 5070 FOR ANSWER
ON 20.04.2001
Out of 17-member jury constituted by the Government for deciding the 48th
National Film Awards for the Feature Film category, 3 members disassociated
themselves at the last stage of the deliberations, as they did not agree with the views of
the majority of the members. Two of these members later sent their resignation from the
jury. No communication has been received from the third jury member. As per the
regulations of the National Film Awards, the jury functions independently and determines
its own work procedure. The Government does not interfere in the functioning or
deliberations of the Jury.
2. As per the National Film Awards Regulations, the Jury is constituted by the
Directorate of Film Festivals with the approval of the Government from among persons
distinguished in the field of cinema, other allied arts and humanities.
3. The names and qualifications of the members of the Jury under Feature Film
Category are as under :-
S.No. Name Background/field
1 Mrs. Vaijayantimala Bali, Chairperson Leading actress of Hindi Cinema/Dancer/Ex-MP
2. Smt. Chitra Desai Lawyer and Poet
3. Shri Mac Mohan Actor from Hindi Cinema 4 Mrs. Sonali Kotnis Editor of a Cinema magazine/column 5 Ms. Madhu Mita Raut Eminent Odissi dancer 6 Ms. Nivedita Pradhan Lawyer and MLA 7 Shri Sushant Mishra Award winning film director 8 Smt. Parvati Indusekar Lawyer 9 Shri Kothandaramaiah Film graduate from Chennai Film Institute, Producer, Director, Exhibitor, President of the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce. 10 Shri Hariharan Award Winning Film Director 11 Shri Shashi Ranjan Film graduate from Pune Film Institute/Actor/TV Producer 12 Shri Tarun Vijay Editor of a leading Hindi News Paper; Film Critic; has served as jury member previously. 13 Shri Pawan Kumar Producer from Hindi Cinema 14 Shri Pradeep Kishan Award winning Film Director 15 Shri Dhritiman Chatterjee Actor from Bengal Cinema 16 Shri Shashi Anand Film graduate from Pune Film Institute/Cinematographer 17 Shri R. Lakshman Film Producer from Bangalore