How do you get the National Award? The full story behind the curtain, which will surprise you:

News India Live, Digital Desk: Indian Film Awards: Every year when the National Film Awards are announced, a debate broke out from social media to tea shops. “Why did this actor get the award?”, “Why was my favorite film not chosen?”, “Is it all fixed?”. These questions come to our minds. We feel that the film who earns the most or what everyone likes, should get the award.

But the truth is far away from it. The world of the National Awards is not determined by the brightness of the box office. Here art, understanding of cinema and social relevance are tested. The process of choosing it is so flaky and strict that you will be surprised to know. So let’s go behind the screen today and understand how the most prestigious film honor of the country is given.

First step: calling films

First of all, the Directorate of Film Film Festival of the Government of India makes a announcement. He invites filmmakers across the country to send their films. But no film can participate in it. There is a condition for this that the film has received a certificate from the Censor Board (CBFC) last year, ie between January 1 to December 31.

Second step: Formation of jury (real player)

The real game begins from here. The government forms a team of well-known film giants of the country, which is called ‘jury’. There are no leaders or officers, but people who have deep understanding of cinema, such as:

• Well-known directors
• Experienced actors
• Writer and screenwriter
• Senior film critic

This jury is also divided into three parts:

1. Feature film jury: It is the biggest jury, which sees common films (eg RRR, rocket). It also has many small groups (regional panels), such as North, South, East, West, who watch films from their respective territories.
2. Non-feature film jury: It examines documentary and short films.
3. Best Writing Jury on Cinema: It evaluates books and articles written on cinema.

Third step: Marathon to watch movies

Now the most difficult task comes. Suppose 300 films came from all over the country. So does the same jury watch all these movies? No.

• First round trimming: First of all, the regional panels of feature films (eg South Panel) watch all the films (eg Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam) in their share. Then they make a list of the best films of these and send it forward.
• Second round match: Now the best films that have been trimmed from all these regional panels (50-60 films) reach the Central Jury. That is, the central jury has to watch only the best selected films of the country, not 300.
• Debate, voting and final decision: The central jury sees all these selected films. After this, the period of long discussion and debate begins. Every category, such as Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Film, is intensively discussed. If any decision is not agreed, then voting is also done.

And finally … announcement

When the names of all the winners are fixed, the chairman of the jury announces the names of the winners in front of the whole country by holding a press conference. A few months later, there is a grand ceremony in Delhi, where the President of India gives this prestigious honor to the winners with his own hands.

So the next time the National Awards are announced, remember that this decision is not a few days, but the hard work of several months, the test of hundreds of films and the long debate of dozens of experts.