Soorarai Pottru wins big at 68th National Film Awards

The 68th National Film Awards have given top most honours to films from four South Indian states. Tamil, Telegu, Kannada and Malayalam cinema make up for the bulk of wins and break away from a Hindi film centric, mainstream driven hangover prevalent in the last 5 years. That films made in South Indian languages have made visible impact on the country’s government vetted cinema awards, shows just how deep and how solid the shift towards their films is.

Tamil film Soorarai Pottru, the story of Captain Gopinath and his dream of funding the low cost flyer Air Deccan, has won Best Feature Film, Best Actress for Aparna Balamurli and Best Actor (joint) for Suriya; and Best Screenplay.  Malayalam film Ayyappunum Koshiyum has won Best Supporting Actor for Biju Menon, Best Action, Best Direction for Sachinanandan KR, Best Female Playback Singer. Tamil anthology film Sivarajaniyum Innum Sila has won Lakshmi Priya Chandramouli best supporting actor.  These are the bigger wins that reflect the prowess that generically termed ‘South Indian cinema’ has shown over Hindi cinema in theatres.

2022 has come as a shocking eye opener for Hindi cinema with most big star releases flopping. While stars from this industry tend to get a lot of attention with visible presence across ads and social media, their films have not done well. In most cases audiences have not chosen to give these films a chance at all, as their lukewarm openings reflect. Tamil and Telegu cinema have dominated; RRR, Pushpa The Rise and Vikram Hitlist drew viewers across languages and territories.

This shift is primarily driven by entertaining, adrenaline pumping content and well produced visual storytelling. But the National Film Awards have recognised those films that tell relevant stories in an entertaining manner. Each film that has won in the mainstream category features a movie star, be it Suriya or Prithviraj Sukumaran. But the storytelling rises above the hubris of stardom and commercial demands. In Ayyappunum Koshiyum, Prithviraj Sukuraman spars on an equal footing with Biju Menon, an approach that Malayalam films lead with. In Soorarai Pottru, Suriya’s character has significant interactions with his wife, played by Aparna Balamurli, making the story progress in a credible manner. Sivarajaniyum Innum Sila, while not a commercially aimed film, maintains a tempo and visual energy through out it’s storytelling, making it a thought provoking and engaging watch. For these films the story comes first and suitable visual treatment follows.

Kannada cinema often gets missed out in the current craze around larger than life, mega pumped hero flicks from Telegu and Tamil cinema. But this year brought awards for quite a few Kannada films.  Late Sanchari Vijay’s last film Taledanda won Best Film on Environment Conservation, while Jeetige has won the Best Tulu Film, a rare one to be made in this language. Autuer Girish Kasaravalli has won Best Arts and Culture Film for his documentary on Hindustani Vocalist Pt. Venkatesh Kumar Naada Navaneeta: Pt Venkatesh Kumar. It is unusual for documentaries to win at the National Film Awards beyond specific categories. That Kasaravalli’s film has won reflects a cross genre approach to recognize films that have something of value to show.

The slide for Hindi cinema from popular imagination has begun to show, but the flaw in it’s approach has been evident for some time. There is a dearth of fresh stories. When biopics are made they are often researched haphazardly. If industry folks are to be believed, actors, particularly stars, bring in unadaptable preconditions. In an interview Sanjay Dutt, who features in Toolsidas Junior, the Best Children’s film, had mentioned that the commitment visible in South Indian films is missing from Hindi cinema, especially from it’s actors. A similar conversation stood out on Koffee With Karan, the chat show. Johar and Akshay Kumar, who are co-producing a film, discussed in detail the reluctance of Hindi film actors to take up films featuring more than one hero. Given so much energy is directed at protecting and defending stardom, it is not surprising that story telling takes a back seat and quality suffers.

Hindi cinema has found recognition with Tanhaji: The Unsung Hero and with Ajay Devgn jointly winning Best Actor for it. But the awards makes one wonder if this a nod in the spirit of democracy rather than meritocracy. While Devgan delivers a scintillating performance as the warrior Tanhaji, it is based on a falsified, exaggerated premise of a historic battle in medieval India. To make the titular protagonist a hero, deaths and victories have been rewritten. That such a film wins for Popular Entertainment indicates that mediocrity dominates storytelling in Hindi cinema. At least in the year 2020 one would be hard pressed to find  a Hindi film that stood for quality and entertainment.

The National Film Awards have traditionally recognised good work and artistic excellence. This year too, has seen 4 awards given to niche films from Assam, including one in the Dimasa dialect. As times change, the awards give hope by rewarding quality work. And the message for Hindi films is clear- make better films. Otherwise audiences might always opt out of watching a Hindi film, social media and star driven hype notwithstanding. Beyond that, more power to regional cinema for they tell stories that reflect the heart of India.

Archita Kashyap is an experienced journalist and writer on film, music, and pop culture. She has handled entertainment content for broadcast news and digital platforms over 15 years. 

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