All for the money?
Telugu film awards functions seem to have become a farce, with monetary considerations largely determining the winners.
Very few actors attended the IIFA Utsavam that concluded in Hyderabad on Wednesday, that too mostly only those who were going to win awards were present. The others, who didn’t win, simply kept away.
Though the event was supposed to represent the four South Indian film industries, only a few top Telugu actors attended the two day event. Most of the big stars from the Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada film industries didn’t attend. “They organised the event like a TV series and not an award function,” said a guest at the event.
While earlier, the entire industry would attend the shows held abroad, things have been changing over the years. It isn’t the case with IIFA alone, several other award shows like Santosham, SIIMA, Cinemaa or even Apsara Awards, have all become money making events, feel sources. TV channels lap up these shows for huge amounts, get viewership because of the stars and that’s all that seems to matter. No one takes these shows seriously, and half of the stars turn up only if they get paid well or if they win an award.
“Except for the Government sponsored awards, there are no big film awards, especially for the Telugu film industry. When I launched my film magazine, Nagarjuna, the chief guest, told me that he wanted to see a big film awards event for Tollywood. I took it up as a challenge and have been continuously doing it now for the last 14 years,” says Suresh Kondeti, organiser and owner of the Santosham Awards. He adds that initially all the actors showed interest. “Now, many actors and technicians are not excited about film awards as many organisations have started to give them out. I don’t want to criticise anyone, as any award is encouraging, but you have to make it interesting and give it without any partiality,” he says.
Suresh adds that he always gives awards to the right films, artistes and technicians, and never for the sake of a particular actor.
If you look at the film awards that have been organised in the last few years, one can tell who is getting what award. If a big actor or actress is coming to a particular award function, it usually means that they are getting an award, otherwise they don’t even bother attending it. The organiser also maintains good contacts with the industry, so that he can rope in a few big actors for the event.
According to a source, the Telangana government released nearly Rs 7 crore to organise the IIFA Utsavam last year and this year, too. Kodi Rama Krishna, the veteran director who is the jury chairman for the recently announced AP Government Nandi Film Award committee, says that any award is encouraging. “I don’t want to comment on the private film award functions and events, but any film award is encouraging for technicians and artistes,” he says. For the Nandi awards, the jury watches nearly forty films and discusses them before winners are announced.
But when it comes to private film awards, it’s the complete opposite. People don’t know who the jury members are and what films they watch. “Last night, at the IIFA Utsavam awards, a top director asked the organisers why his film was not even nominated. He got even angrier when the organisers told him to bring his lead actress to the event to get the best actress award, failing which they would give it to another actress who attended the event,” says the source.
Other film awards are the same. “The awards are decided at the last minute, depending on whoever comes to the function,” says an actor. “Sponsors also put pressure on the organisers to give awards to a particular actor or actress,” adds a source. Some of the actresses even perform on the stage, keeping in mind that the organisers will declare awards for them.
“The dance performances are for TV viewers, and to encourage some actresses they give out awards, otherwise they won’t even perform. Film events in Hyderabad are a big farce. They’re just held to generate money from sponsors,” adds the source.