Mumbai: Victor Banerjee is upset with this year’s National Awards jury for rejecting Assamese director Bidyut Kotoki’s film As The River Flows for not being Assamese.
Victor, who plays a central part in the film, said: “I’m flummoxed by the absurdity of a National Awards jury watching a film in the Assamese language, directed by an Assamese and shot in Assam being proclaimed as being ‘not Assamese’. Hello? How much more Assamese did they want the film to be?”
“I’m ashamed at the high-handed arrogance of a jury that has no business calling itself national. As The River Flows is an important Assamese film with a message for all to ponder upon. I’ve nothing more to say,” he added.
Victor feels it is such ignorant evaluations of the region that has led to the neglect of the area.
“The entire nation is ignorant of the reality in the Northeast and it’s ridiculous circumstances like the one Bidyut Kotoki has faced that makes me realize why the North East is up in arms, and why for decades the region wants to sever ties with the rest of India.”
“Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Darjeeling are just curiosity pieces…who provide a circus of amusement in Delhi,” he added.
Delhi, feels Victor, is taken up with its own agenda. “They are bogged down by the OBC casteism, fodder and tele scams and the perpetuation of corruption on all levels, sports, politics, and now even culture.” (IANS)
