Beneath the shine of spotlight and glamour, there lies the stark reality of the world of showbiz. Recently, Shekhar Gupta, the current editor-in-chief of ThePrint and former CEO and editor-in-chief of the Indian Express group, took to his column and shared his experience, as one of the faces behind the management of Screen Awards. Shekhar, without any hesitance, recalled a streak of instances and Bollywood biggies for their exasperation over not receiving an award.
Among others, Shekhar revealed how Karan Johar was extremely irked after his film My Name Is Khan received no nominations. Shekhar says he had left it all to the jury and didn't bother interfering. He then alleged of getting long, pained and hurt calls as a consequence of the same. Veteran actor Amol Palekar, who was a part of the jury then, too, was accused of having a grudge for not nominating the film. An excerpt from his long note read, "There was an incident every year. I am choosing the few here to illustrate the power of every possible element: A dynasty, a clique or an individual star. In the 2011 awards (for 2010 releases), My Name is Khan was apparently the biggest hit. It did not get nominated in any category. Right or wrong, we wouldn’t know, because we let the jury be."
"And the jury that year was headed by someone as widely respected and accomplished as Amol Palekar. Shah Rukh Khan was also a contracted performer and a stage presenter. Trouble began three days earlier, as usual. There were threats of a boycott. I never heard this from Shah Rukh — before, during the awards or later, to be fair. But from people “around the film”. There was panic and I had to field long, pained, hurt calls from Karan Johar, who simply wouldn’t accept that the jury had not found the film worthy of an award," he added.
Check out his video below:
He concluded saying, "I was told dark theories on why poor Palekar might dislike those who made “the greatest hit in years”. How dare he choose instead a “marginal film” like Vikramaditya Motwane’s Udaan! There were threats of a boycott not just “by us, but the entire industry”. We held our nerve again, and a breather came as the viewers’ choice award, based on an internet poll conducted by our host TV channel, went to the film (My Name Is Khan). We were satisfied because it wasn’t a jury award and our process was clean."
image source: Imdb; instagram/karanjohar; APH