The Committee for Rationalisation of Film Awards has recommended renaming the 'Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director' and 'Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration', which are part of the National Film Awards, according to a report by The Hindu.
As per the report, the cash that goes with the awards in all categories has also increased significantly. The Dadasaheb Phalke Award has been reportedly increased from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh.
According to The Hindu, in a report adopted by the Information & Broadcasting Ministry, the committee chaired by the Additional Secretary has recommended several changes to the 70th National Film Awards (2022) Regulations.
The Indian Film Awards (IFA) committee has recommended several changes to the awards, including renaming the 'Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director' and increasing the award money to Rs 3 lakh. The 'Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration' was also renamed as 'Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social, and Environmental Values', with a Rajat Kamal for the director and producer, respectively. The award amount has also been reportedly increased to Rs 2 lakh each.
In continuation of the report, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award has been raised from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh. The rationalisation committee, headed by Neerja Sekhar, included filmmakers Priyadarshan, Vipul Shah, Haobam Paban Kumar, Central Board of Film Certification chief Prasoon Joshi, cinematographer S Nallamuthu, I&B joint secretary Prithul Kumar, and the ministry's director (finance) Kamlesh Kumar Sinha.
A new category called 'Best AVGC Film' was created, which combines the Best Animation Film and Best Special Effects categories. The awards for Best Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress have been renamed, and the prize money has increased. Moreover, changes have been made to categories like Best Audiography and Best Music Director.
The Best Actor award has been renamed 'Best Actor in a Leading Role', while the Best Actress award has been rebranded 'Best Actress in a Leading Role'. The Best Sound Design award has been merged into 'Music Director (Background Music),' with a Rajat Kamal award of Rs 2 lakh for the sound designer.
The committee recommended giving only one award per category, with shared awards given only under exceptional circumstances to maintain the prestige of the awards. For Swarna Kamal winners, the uniform cash awards have been set at Rs 3 lakh and Rs 2 lakh for Rajat Kamal winners.
The 70th edition of the National Film Awards will be held this year.
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