The announcement of Akshay Kumar's name as the winner of the National Award for Best Actor certainly made fans happy, but it also raised eyebrows. Despite Aamir Khan and Manoj Bajpayee being in the fray, the Khiladi actor was honoured for his film Rustom and it has irked many.
Priyadarshan, who was one of the jury members, has been slammed for giving the Best Actor title to Akshay in recognition of their friendship. Also, he has been questioned why Aamir didn't get it for his brilliant performance in Dangal.
While talking to Mumbai Mirror, Priyadarshan said: "Akshay Kumar deserved the award and so we gave it to him. There were a total of 38 jury members with me on this. How can you question the decision of so many people? Ramesh Sippy headed the jury last year. When he gave Best Actor to Amitabh Bachchan for Piku why didn't anyone question him?"
Well, we don't get the comparison. Amitabh was far better in Piku than Akshay was in Rustom. Akshay sure did a good job, but there were other actors who deserved the prestigious award more.
Priyadarshan's reply about why Aamir didn't get it, will shock you. He told the Mirror: "Aamir recently said that he wouldn't personally accept the award if he is given one. If I remember, Aamir didn't attend the ceremony when he won the award for Taare Zameen Par (the film bagged the National Film Award for Best Film on Family Welfare in 2008). So, why spoil it for some other actor who stood as good a chance of winning the award."
Seriously? You mean you did not consider Aamir because he would not attend the award ceremony? It looks like the National Film Awards are also losing importance like Filmfare Awards.
Anyone who feels Aamir didn't stand a chance for Dangal should watch his body transformation in the film:
