FIR Filed Against DPIFF Award Founder: How Does it Differ from THE Dadasaheb Phalke Award?

The confusion between the Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award has been evident on social media for several years now. On 6 February, an FIR has been lodged by the Bandra police against Anil Mishra, his son Abhishek Mishra, and others for allegedly misusing the ‘Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival’ (DPIFF) trademark to deceive the public. The FIR has been registered under section 318(4) pertaining to 'cheating' and section 319(2) for ‘cheating by personation’ of the BNS (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita). The case was registered following a complaint by Sameer Dixit, the Maharashtra president of the BJP’s film union – Chitrapat Kamgar Aghadi. The complainant accused the organisers for trying to "make the event appear as though it was government-supported," according to news reports.Anil Mishra, who's both founder and managing director of the DPIFF, has reportedly organised its 2025 edition on 19-20 February at Taj Land’s End, Bandra. So, how are the awards different? What have the organisers of DPIFF been accused of? The Quint explains.The Dadasaheb Phalke Award was instituted by the Government of India in 1969 to commemorate the contribution of filmmaker Dhundiraj Govind Phalke – popularly called Dadasaheb Phalke – to Indian cinema. Called the Father of Indian Cinema, Phalke is best known for directing India's first full-length feature film, Raja Harishchandra, in 1913.Till date, 52 artistes have been honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, including Satyajit Ray, Naushad Ali, V Shantaram, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Raj Kapoor, Vinod Khanna, Gulzar, Shashi Kapoor, Pran, Soumitra Chaterjee, Manna Dey, Dev Anand, Yash Chopra, Asha Bhonsle, Amitabh Bachchan, and Rajinikanth. Actor Devika Rani was the first actor to receive the award. As is evident, the award is given annually to only one individual for their "outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema," according to the Directorate of Film Festivals under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.It's no wonder that it is considered the "highest award in the field of cinema."The latest Dadasaheb Phalke Award was given to veteran actor Asha Pareskh on 30 September 2022, at the 68th National Film Awards for the year 2020.Infographic: Dadasaheb Phalke, the Man Who Reinvented StorytellingA prime difference between the Dadasaheb Phalke Award and the DPIFF Awards is that the latter is given out by a privately-run, independent film festival, according to its website.DPIFF was established in 2016 "to carry forward the legacy of Late Shri Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, lovingly known as Dadasaheb Phalke." The website identifies the DPIFF as "India's only independent international film festival."According to the online film database IMDB, Mishra is an advisory board member of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). However, his name is not on the current list of board members displayed on the CBFC website.The Dadasaheb Phalke Award – No Women, Please!Another major difference between the Dadasaheb Phalke Awards and the DPIFF is that while the former is awarded to just one artiste every year, the latter awards are given in several categories, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Most Promising Actor, among others. The DPIFF also accepts entries for short films whose run time is 30 minutes or less. The awards are decided by a jury. The jury president of the festival is Chandrasekhar Pusalkar, one of Phalke's grandsons.The DPIFF website says that these awards are "supported by" the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya, a museum dedicated to the prime ministers of India, which was inaugurated in 2022.The DPIFF website also features pictures of President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a section that thanks “passionate partners, patrons, and cinema lovers”.According to The Times of India, DPIFF is not an officially registered organisation, despite repeated applications with slight modifications to the name. The government reportedly rejected each one.In the past, actors like Kiara Advani, Lara Dutta, Sidharth Malhotra, Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Akshay Kumar, and Sushant Singh Rajput have won the DPIFF Awards.Yes. Apart from the DPIFF Awards, there are Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Awards, the Dadasaheb Phalke Film Foundation Awards, and the Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Awards.In the context of the confusion during the recent DIPFF Awards, film researcher and critic Ajay Brahmatmaj tweeted that this award is being seen as an "equivalent to the Dadasaheb Phalke Award given by the Government of India" – and that the Indian government must take action.Twitter Fact-Checks Gajendra Chauhan's Claim of Receiving Dadasaheb Phalke AwardVeteran filmmaker and recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Shyam Benegal, told Hindustan Times recently, "If my view has any kind of merit, the government should act on it and say please don't name all awards after Dadasaheb; let there be only one."But speaking to the Hindustan Times, Ashok Kumar Parmar, joint secretary (films), said, "What can the ministry do? And under what rule can we take action? You can't stop them, since they're not exactly copying the name. They twist and use the name and organise a function. It's up to the invitees whether they want to attend such functions or not."This has been called out in the past as well.BJP leader Vani Tripathi Tikoo, a former member of the CBFC, wrote in a 2018 tweet that there was only one Dadasaheb Phalke Award instituted by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry – and the use of the same name by any other party was "a gross violation of the prestigious award."Ranveer Singh Dedicates Dadasaheb Phalke Award to Kapil’s Devils, ‘83’ Cast

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Dadasaheb Phalke Awards vs THE Dadasaheb Phalke Award: What's the Difference?

An FIR has been lodged for the alleged misuse of the 'Dadasaheb Phalke' trademark.