‘The Kashmir Files’ has not got the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, but the award organized by a private organization

Recently, ‘Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival 2023’ was organized in Mumbai, in which Varun Dhawan, Ranveer Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Rishabh Shetty, film ‘The Kashmir Files’, etc. were awarded in different fields.

Vivek Agnihotri, director of the controversial film ‘The Kashmir Files’, tweeted that ‘The Kashmir Files’ has received the ‘Best Film’ award at the Dadasaheb Phalke Awards 2023. Vivek Agnihotri has used #DadaSahebPhalkeAwards2023 in this tweet. And it was from here that confusion arose among the people regarding the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

ANNOUNCEMENT:#TheKashmirFiles wins the ‘Best Film’ award at #DadaSahebPhalkeAwards2023.
“This award is dedicated to all the victims of terrorism and to all the people of India for your blessings.” pic.twitter.com/MdwikOiL44

— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) February 21, 2023

Several media outlets and social media users also pointed out that ‘The Kashmir Files’ has received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. But it is important to know here that Dadasaheb Phalke Award and Dadasaheb International Film Festival Awards are two different awards.

difference between the two awards
Before we move on to any other difference, it is important to know that the biggest difference between the Dadasaheb Phalke Award and the awards given by private organizations in his name is that the Dadasaheb Phalke Award has no category (Best Film, Best Actor, Best actresses, etc.) do not exist. The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is given to only one person in a year who has made an outstanding contribution to the Indian film industry.

Dadasaheb Phalke Award

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is the highest in the field of Indian cinema. The award was instituted by the Government of India in 1969 to commemorate the outstanding contribution to the field of Indian cinema by Dadasaheb Phalke, director of India’s first full-length feature film Raja Harishchandra (1913) and considered the father of Indian cinema . This honor is given at the National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema. The awardees are selected by a committee consisting of eminent personalities from the Indian film industry. In this respect, a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medal, a shawl and a cash of ₹ 10 lakh are given as a prize. So far, the most recent Dadasaheb Phalke Award has been received by Indian actress, film director and producer Asha Parekh in the year 2020. Due to Kovid-19 in 2020, he was given this honor in 2022.

Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards

According to the information available on the official website of DPIFF, Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival is an independent film fest organized by a private organization. It was established in 2012 and launched in 2016 to carry forward the legacy of Dadasaheb Phalke, considered the father of Indian cinema. Anil Mishra is the founder and director of this film festival. Anil Mishra is also a member of the advisory panel of the ‘Central Board of Film Certification’ (CBFC) under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. These awards are given in many categories (Best Film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Short Film, etc.).

Many people get confused because of the similarity in the name. Film researcher and critic Brahmatmaj tweeted that this award is being seen as equivalent to the Dadasaheb Phalke Award given by the Government of India. He urged the Government of India to stop it.

मजेदार और कड़वी सच्चाई है कि दादा साहब फाल्के के नाम से जारी यह अवार्ड फिल्म बिरादरी के कतिपय सदस्यों द्वारा भारत सरकार द्वारा दिए जाने वाले दादा साहब फाल्के अवार्ड के समकक्ष देखा जाने लगा है।
भारत सरकार और सूचना प्रसारण मंत्रालय से मेरा आग्रह है कि इसे यथाशीघ्र बंद किया जाए। pic.twitter.com/G5xoIQRa5o

— MrB🌹 (@brahmatmajay) February 21, 2023

What did Dadasaheb Phalke’s grandson Chandrashekhar Pusalkar say?

In an interview given to Amar Ujala in 2022, Dadasaheb Phalke’s grandson Chandrashekhar Pusalkar had said that people invited him a lot as a special guest at the Dadasaheb Phalke Awards ceremony to be distributed in Mumbai. He said that this award is being given by taking money to such people who are not capable of it. Along with this, he told that once he got a call from a famous Marathi actress that he has found the organizer of Dadasaheb Phalke Award in America, who is demanding one million for the award.

In this interview, Chandrashekhar Pusalkar also objected to the name of awards similar to the Dadasaheb Phalke Award given by the Government of India. He said that it hurts when people run shops in the name of Dadasaheb Phalke. He said that it is sad to see that on the one hand, a personality like Amitabh Bachchan is honored with the Dadasaheb Phalke Achievement Award, while on the other hand here in Mumbai, after paying any amount, he walks away with an award with the same name as the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

It should be known that there are many awards in the name of Dadasaheb Phalke. For example – Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards, Dadasaheb Phalke Film Foundation Awards, Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Awards, Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Awards, etc. In an interview given to IANS in 2018, Pusalkar had said that after 2015, due to differences, two other parts have been formed from the Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Award. Some people started Dadasaheb Phalke Film Foundation Awards and after that some people started Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Awards. I used to attend all the three award functions as they used to invite us as guests, but I request them to put aside their differences and come under one roof.

In the past too, the awards run in the name of Dadasaheb have been mired in controversies. Vani Tripathi Tiku, secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a member of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), wrote in a tweet in 2018 that there is only one ‘Dadasaheb Phalke’ award instituted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Use of the name by anyone else is a gross violation of this prestigious award and its name.

There is only one "Dada Saheb Phalke" Award constituted by @MIB_India anyone else using the name is a gross violation of this prestigious award and its name..@smritiirani https://t.co/IdLyjWmo6w

— Vani Tripathi Tikoo (@vanityparty) April 17, 2018

Talking to Hindustan Times, Vani Tripathi Tiku had said that this is a disregard of one of the highest, prestigious and admired awards by the Government of India and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. This spectacle happens every year. Expressing concern over this, he said that what if tomorrow someone uses a name similar to Padma Award or Bharat Ratna, and someone says that this too is another Bharat Ratna being given!

To know the stand of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on this issue, Hindustan Times asked Ashok Kumar Parmar, Joint Secretary (Films) of the Ministry, whether the Ministry has issued any notice to such organizations or has taken any action? To this, Joint Secretary (Films) Ashok Kumar Parmar says, “What can the ministry do? And under what rule can we act? You can’t stop them, because they aren’t copying the name at all. They organize celebrations by distorting the name. It depends on the people invited there whether they want to participate in such programs or not.

Conclusion

Overall, there is a lot of difference between Dadasaheb Phalke Award and Dadasaheb International Film Festival Awards. Vivek Agnihotri claimed that ‘The Kashmir Files’ has been awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, using a misleading hashtag in his tweet, causing confusion on social media. While ‘The Kashmir Files’ has been awarded the Best Film Award at the Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards 2023, an independent film fest organized by a private organization.