On Friday, several National Award-winning actors, directors, producers, and editors of the Tamil film industry made an appeal to Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javedekar requesting the Government of India to honour actor-director-producer Padma Shri awardee P Bharathirajaa with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award. They said that they collectively believe that the award, which is the highest award in the field of cinema, would be a fitting tribute to the legendary director who has contributed to Indian cinema for over 43 years.
The appeal made on the director’s 78th birthday also included a list of the achievements and contributions made by the director over the years. This included: mention of the number of films (42) in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu from 1977 to 2019 and their filming in villages and real locations as opposed to sets; the addressing of social issues like unemployment, discrimination on the basis of caste, female infanticide, social values, and human relationship through his films; the top actors he’s directed like Sivaji Ganesan, Rajesh Khanna, Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi, Nana Patekar, Sridevi, Vijayashanti, Revathi, and Jayasudha along with the directors like K Bhagyaraj, Manivannan, and Manobala he’s introduced owing to his new wave cinema; the six National Awards and Tamil Nadu State Government awards, and the Nandi award from the Andhra Pradesh State Government (for his 1981 Telugu film Seethakoka Chiluka) he’s been conferred with; the Padma Shri recognition by the Government of India in 2004; his serving as the Head of the Jury for the 2017 National Awards.
“The above listing is just a few of the achievements of this legendary filmmaker, who continues to inspire the new generation of filmmakers with his films and active support to the film industry as a whole,” read the letter.
An Appeal from@ikamalhaasan #Maniratnam@Vairamuthu
Including
25 National Award winning Directors-Actors,
8 National Award winning Producers & Writer to Government of India for ‘Dadasaheb Phalke’ Award for @offBharathiraja for 2020, on the occasion of his 78th birthday #NM pic.twitter.com/YNCTKnFPBF— Nikil Murukan (@onlynikil) July 17, 2020
A copy was also sent to the Information and Broadcasting Secretary, Amit Khare. It further said that a signed appeal from the awardees will be sent soon.
Recommended
The list of national awardees included actors Kamal Haasan, Dhanush, directors KS Sethumadhavan, Priyadarshan, Santhana Bharathi, Agathiyan, R Parthiepan, Cheran, Bala, SP Jhananathan, Vetrimaaran, Seenu Ramasamy, P Samuthirakani, producers Kalaipuli S Thanu, J Sathishkumar, SR Prabhu, editors Sreekar Prasad, B Lenin, and critic G Dhananjayan.
Apart from this, Virudhunagar MP Manickam Tagore has also penned a personal letter to Prakash Javadekar on Saturday, July 18, regarding the same.
Wrote to Hon’ble I& B Minister @PrakashJavdekar regarding conferment of #DadasahebPalke Award to Thiru #BharathiRaja for his contributions to the Indian cinema!Politically I have many different views with him but swe should respect his contribution! Hope Minister will also do so pic.twitter.com/guW5Ue3S05
— Manickam Tagore MP🇮🇳✋மாணிக்கம் தாகூர் (@manickamtagore) July 18, 2020
Read: Healthy And Happy: Bharathiraja Issues Clarification On Rumours About His Health