“Disheartening how Lootera has been held back from most of the nominations this year!

Didn’t they call it a masterpiece/poetry in motion/world class/technically superior film when it released? That seems like qualification enough to be out there.

Not nominating Vikram Motwane for best director, Ranveer for acting, Amit Trivedi for music, Shetty for cinematography, Aditya for art, Subarna for costume, Amitabh for lyrics makes my nomination feel so out of place!

Vikram Motwane, you will and always be best director for me! Ranveer, Amit Trivedi, Shetty, Aditya, Subarna, Amitabh Bhattacharya and everyone associated with this very special film will Always be proud of Lootera whether or not they acknowledge us :)”

Sonakshi Sinha tweeted that this morning. And believe me she isn’t the only one that seems to be fed up of this annual circus.

She has a reason to be disillusioned. Lootera was a rare gem, and in fact, surprisingly, one of my favourite films of last year, with subdued performances from both Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi – performances that gave us a rare insight into their untapped acting potential, a feat which none of Sonakshi’s frivolous ‘100 crore’ films have achieved, ever.

It’s no surprise why an actor like Aamir Khan, flatly refuses to attend these awards, year after year. They were credible once, but have now become nothing short of a joke. A sponsored spectacle, where star egos are fed, and reputable actors get paid in crores to shake a leg and lip sync to their chart-topping songs.

This year, Shah Rukh Khan was awarded the Screen Award for best actor, for his hammy, cringeworthy performance in Chennai Express – by no means his best work. Give me the SRK of Swades, and Chak De India any day over the rubbish he churned out here.

Deepika Padukone, swept the award for best actress in the Screen popular category, which was deserved, given that she’s been on top of her game and 2013 completely belonged to her. But did she deserve the critics award too? One word. No. In fact, in comparison, I found Sonakshi’s performance in Lootera, far more nuanced and subtle and criminally underrated.

It all depends on connections too. For instance, Vidya Balan took home the trophy for Kahaani, in 2012 a superb performance no doubt, but by that account didn’t Priyanka Chopra deserve at least the critics award that same year for her turn as the autistic Jhilmil in Barfi? The film scored at the box office too, so what went wrong there? Well, Vidya’s married to the head honcho of UTV, Sidharth Roy Kapur. Did he have anything to do with it?

The hugely popular Filmfare Awards seem to be headed the same way. Every year, they increase the number of nominees in each of the categories so they don’t hurt anyone’s sentiments and invoke the wrath of egotistical stars. Every year, hardly any of the awards are a surprise. The winners pretend they didn’t see it coming, but nine times out of ten, the stars are made aware of the winners much before the ceremony takes place.

What’s the point then? What’s the point of having trophies that reward ‘excellence in cinema’, when in fact they can be bought by nearly anyone, with a tiny bit of credibility.

If it was down to me, it would be either Aamir Khan or Hrithik Roshan that should walk away with awards in the popular categories this year. They made even the silly films they starred in credible by sheer screen presence.

One could argue that these are popular awards. If that’s the case, why isn’t Aamir Khan in any of the nominations list? Dhoom:3 has turned out to be the biggest money spinner, not just in 2013, but ever. I’ll tell you why. It’s because he refuses to show up, and his absence could affect the TRPs of a show, and invoke the wrath of sponsors. How would a big budget awards show look if the star of the show, the best actor wasn’t there to collect his trophy?

The National Awards still have some clout, but even those have rewarded some dubious actors in the past. Saif Ali Khan for Hum Tum? Really? Anil Kapoor for Pukar? The actor was far superior in a film like Virasat. Karisma Kapoor for Dil To Pagal Hai. The list goes on. Still, from all these overhyped, money making shams, the National Awards just about scrape through in credibility.

Can someone, please create a new award, which rewards films like Lootera, The Lunchbox and the like, and encourages new talent like Dhanush who was outstanding in his debut Raanjhanaa, as opposed to going by the whims of stars, and rewarding 'actors' according to the dictates of the box office and commercial parameters?

I for one am bored of this rubbish we’re fed year on year. Are you?

Filmfare Awards 2014 Nominations

Best Film
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Chennai Express
Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-leela
Raanjhanaa
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

Best Director
Aanand L Rai - Raanjhanaa
Abhishek Kapoor - Kai Po Che
Ayan Mukerji - Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra - Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Rohit Shetty - Chennai Express
Sanjay Leela Bhansali - Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-leela

Best Actor In A Leading Role - Male
Dhanush - Raanjhanaa
Farhan Akhtar - Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Hrithik Roshan - Krrish 3
Ranbir Kapoor - Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Ranveer Singh - Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-leela
Shah Rukh Khan - Chennai Express

Best Actor In A Leading Role - Female
Deepika Padukone - Chennai Express
Deepika Padukone - Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-leela
Parineeti Chopra - Shuddh Desi Romance
Shraddha Kapoor - Aashiqui 2
Sonakshi Sinha- Lootera
Sonam Kapoor - Raanjhanaa

Best Actor In A Supporting Role - Male
Aditya Roy Kapur - Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Anupam Kher - Special 26
Nawazuddin Siddiqui - The Lunchbox
Pankaj Kapur - Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola
Rajkumar Rao - Kai Po Che
Vivek Oberoi - Krrish 3
 

Best Actor In A Supporting Role - Female
Divya Dutta - Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Kalki Koechlin - Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Konkona Sen Sharma - Ek Thi Daayan
Supriya Pathak Kapur - Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-leela
Swara Bhaskar - Raanjhanaa

Best Music
Amit Trivedi - Lootera
Ankit Tiwari, Mithoon and Jeet Ganguly - Aashiqui 2
AR Rahman - Raanjhanaa
Pritam - Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Sanjay Leela Bhansali - Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-leela
Vishal-Shekhar - Chennai Express

Best Lyrics
Amitabh Bhattacharya - Shikayatein - (Lootera)
Amitabh Bhattacharya - Kabira - (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani)
Mithoon - Tum hi ho - (Aashiqui 2)
Prasoon Joshi - Zinda - (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)
Swanand Kirkire - Manja - (Kai Po Che)

Best Playback Singer - Male
Amit Trivedi - Manja- (Kai Po Che)
Ankit Tiwari - Sunn raha hai na tu - (Aashiqui 2)
Arijit Singh - Tum hi ho - (Aashiqui 2)
Benny Dayal - Badtameez dil - (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani)
Siddharth Mahadevan - Zinda - (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)

Best Playback Singer - Female
Chinmayi - Titli - (Chennai Express)
Monali Thakur - Sawar loon - (Lootera)
Shalmali Kholgade - Balam pichkari - (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani)
Shreya Ghoshal - Sunn raha hai - (Aashiqui 2)
Shreya Ghoshal - Nagada - (Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-leela)

Screen Awards WInners 2014

Best film: Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

Best Director: Shoojit Sarcar (Madras Cafe)

Best Actor (male): Farhan Akhtar (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)

Best Actor (female): Deepika Padukone (Ram-Leela, Chennai Express)

Best Actor supporting (male): Saurabh Shukla (Jolly L.L.B)

Best Actor supporting (female): Swara Bhaskar (Raanjhanaa)

Best Actor Negative (male): Rishi Kapoor (D-Day)

Best Actor Negative (female): Shilpa Shukla (B.A. Pass)

Best Actor Comic Role (male/female): Richa Chadda (Fukrey)

Best Background score: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)

Best Music: Pritam Chakrabarty: (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani)

Best singer (male): Arjit Singh (Tum hi Ho – Ashiqui 2)

Best Singer (female): Shreya Ghoshal (Sunn Raha Hain Na tu – Aashiqui 2)

Best Lyrics: Swanand Kirkire (Maanjha – Kai Po Che)

Best Story: Mohan Sikka (B.A. Pass)

Best Screenplay: Hansal Mehta, Sameer Gautam Singh & Apurva Asrani (Shahid)

Best Dialogue: Sameer Gautam Singh (Shahid)

Best Editing: Deepa Bhatia (Kai Po Che)

Best Sound Designer: Biswadeep Chatterjee (Madras Cafe)

Best Cinematography: S. Ravi Varman (Ram-Leela)

Best Special Effects: Red Chillies (Krrish 3)

Best Production Design: Wasiq Khan (Ram-Leela)

Best Choreography: Remo D’Souza (Badtameez Dil – Yeh Jawaani Hai Dewaani)

Best Action: Manohar Verma (Madras Cafe)

Most Promising Newcomer (male): Sushant Singh Rajput (Kai Po Che)

Most Promising newcomer (female): Aida Ei-Kashef (Ship Of Theseus)

Most Promising Debut Director: Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox)

Best Child Artist: Japtej Singh (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)

Best Ensemble cast: Club-60 (Sanjay Tripathi)

Best Costume: AnjuModi, Maxima Basu (Ram-Leela)

Ram Nath Goenka Memorial: Madras Cafe

Lifetime Achievement award: Amitabh Bachchan

Popular Choice (male): Shah Rukh Khan (Chennai Express)

Popular Choice (female): Deepika Padukone

Outstanding contribution to cinema: Ronnie Screwvala

Special Jury Award: Anand Gandhi:(Ship Of Theseus)

LIFE OK Screen Jodi of the year: Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor (Aashiqui 2)

Marathi Awards:

Best film: Balak Palak & Duniyadari

Best Director: Ravi Jadhav (Balak Palak)

Best actor (male): Sachin Khedekar (Aacha Divas Majha & Pitruroon)

Best Actor (female): Tanuja (Pitruroon)

Most Promising Newcomer (male): Prathamesh Parab (Balak Palak)

Most Promising Newcomer (female): Shriya Pilgaonkar (Ekul Ti Ek)

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