After ‘Srikanth’, the biopic of visually-impaired industrialist Srikanth Bolla, hit the screens, many predicted that it would be a strong contender at the National Awards, which has Rajkummar Rao Considered by some to be the front-runner for Best Actor. However, while the film bagged the Best Hindi Feature Film award, the top acting honor ultimately eluded him.
Nidhi Parmar Hiranandani Denied it was a snub for Rajkummar
However, the Best Actor trophy at the 72nd National Film Awards was shared jointly by: Kartik Aaryan and Mammootty, for ‘Chandu Champion’ and ‘Bramayugam’, respectively. ‘Srikanth’ co-producer Nidhi Parmar Hiranandani, however, dismissed any suggestion that this was considered a snub for Rajkummar. “I don’t think you can snub an actor of Raj’s caliber. That’s not possible,” he told News18.“I don’t think the National Awards jury will do that. I’m sure they have their reasons. Expectation wise, every maker wants to win for their cast, crew and themselves. And Raj gave one of the best performances of his career in this film. It is there for all to see. As Srikanth, he brought him to life on screen and we are very grateful to him for that,” he added.
Nidhi Parmar Hiranandani called Kartik Aaryan’s victory well deserved
Parmar, who is also married to the director Tushar Hiranandanicontinued to praise Kartik, convinced that he had truly earned the honor. “Kartik has done an amazing job in Chandu Champion. The National Awards jury knows what they are doing. But do we want Raj to win? Sure. Does that mean we don’t want Kartik to win? No. They took the right decision,” he said.Nidhi shared that she never expected the predictions surrounding Srikanth’s big win to come true, and pointed to the fact that the film and Tushar were largely mocked at almost every Bollywood award function. “I expect nominations for our film. Our cast members received the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor awards. The writers were nominated but Tushar was never nominated,” he lamented.She further continues, “I don’t know how many nominations the film got also. But through the process of being snubbed by everyone, it felt like maybe it’s not happening for us. But it didn’t bother me much because it didn’t mean that we made a lesser film. It just means that I don’t know how to play the game.”
Srikanth’s Oscar snub dampened Nidhi’s hopes
Srikanth’s failure to be selected as India’s official entry to the Oscars further dampened his hopes. “There were talks about our film being considered for the Oscars many times, which never happened. So, we never hoped. So, the National Award was something we didn’t think about.
Nidhi Parmar Hiranandani says she and Tushar are ‘still in shock’
Unsurprisingly, both Nidhi and Tushar are ‘still in shock’. “We’re very grateful but still processing. The National Award wasn’t a dream that we even held. We didn’t even think about it but we know that we gave our best in the film. We are very happy. The Best Film award isn’t just for us. It’s for everybody involved with the film,” said Nidhi.