Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram   

Chalachitra Academy wings clipped?

By N. J. Nair

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM JUNE 6. The Kerala State Chalachitra Academy has been stripped of its powers to select the recipient of the J. C. Daniel Award for overall contribution to Malayalam cinema, it is learnt.

From next year onwards, the recipient would be selected directly by the Government. The decision comes in the wake of complaints about the selection procedure adopted by the academy.

The academy had mailed a list of three names -- K. J. Jesudas, Bharat Gopi and Sukumari -- to select persons in the industry and sought their suggestions. They were directed to select either one from the list or suggest, on a priority basis, any other talent who had not won the award earlier.

The academy's procedure had drawn flak from many prominent directors who registered their protest to the Government in writing. It was felt that the academy's selection process would lead to unhealthy competition among veteran artists who have made invaluable contribution to cinema. Certain prominent persons including directors who had won international acclaim had abstained from the process in protest.

Since it is the highest Government decoration conferred on an artist, the considered opinion among those who wrote to the Government was that the selection should be made by a Government-appointed panel. It was also pointed out that the award be given to those who led a retired life and not to those who were still active in the field.

Earlier, the winner was selected by a committee comprising the Culture Secretary as member and experts from the industry. The entire procedure was confidential so that there was no room for complaints. Now, the Government is learnt to have decided to revive the process, which was in force till the formation of the academy.

The award was instituted in 1992 to perpetuate the name of Joseph Chellaiah Daniel, who produced `Vigatha Kumaran' in 1928. The honour is considered to be the Malayalam equivalent of the Dada Saheb Phalke award.

Ten persons including the veteran producer, T. E. Vasudevan, the late Thikkurissi Sukumaran Nair, the poet and lyricist, P. Bhaskaran, the late Abhayadev, the director, A. Vincent, the music directors, K. Raghavan, V. Dakshinamoorthy and G.Devarajan, the directors, the late M. Krishnan Nair, and P. N. Menon had received the award earlier.

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