Paresh Rawal makes shocking statement about National Awards, says 'gandagi hoti hai, khel khela jaata hai': 'Jab Oscar mein hoti hai toh...'

Paresh Rawal has made shocking allegations against National Film Awards stating that dirty games and excessive lobbying happens while selecting the winners. The veteran actor revealed that he lost out on the National Award for Best Actor even being told that he has won it because he hadn't 'lobbied' hard enough. In his recent interview, Rawal shared the anecdote on the confusion that arose after he was informed that he had been selected for two National Awards in the early 1990s, but ended up receiving one of them.

Talking to The Lallantop, the Hera Pheri actor said, "Main Mauritius mein shooting kar raha tha 93-94 mein, subah 7:30–8 baje phone aata hai Mukesh Bhatt ka saying ‘Paresh, kya kar raha hai? Soya hai? Uth ja, uth ja, tereko Sir picture ke liye National Award mil raha hai (I was shooting in Mauritius in 1993 or 1994. Around 7:30 or 8 in the morning, I got a call from Mukesh Bhatt. He said, 'Paresh, what are you doing? Are you asleep? Wake up, wake up, you’re getting a National Award for the film Sir’)". Pareesh added that within few minutes, he received another call from Kalpana Lajmi saying that he has won the National Award for Sardar. "Sardar ke liye? Ketan Mehta ki film ke liye (For Sardar? The film by Ketan Mehta?)", he double-checked from the filmmaker, who replied, "Haan, Ketan Mehta ki film ke liye (Yes, for the film by Ketan Mehta)."

The actor was ecstatic after hearing the news. However when he came back to Delhi, he got to know that he would be given only one award for Sir, not for Sardar. Confused by the news, the actor asked director Ketan Mehta, critic Khalid Mohamed, director Shyam Benegal, and politician T. Subbarami Reddy why did this happen. The actor said that he was told by Reddy, "You people didn’t lobby. We did hard lobby, aggressive lobby and Mammootty got it." At the 41st National Awards, Paresh Rawal won the Best Supporting Actor award for Sir and Woh Chokri, and Mammootty won the Best Actor award for Ponthan Mada and Vidheyan.

Sharing more about his thoughts on the National Awards, Paresh Rawal concluded, "National award ki main qadr karta hoon. National award me kabhi kabhi kya hota hai...technicalities - kisi ne bheji nahi thi film. Woh sab gandagi hoti hai. Khel khela jata hai. Lobby toh hoti hai, daba ke hoti hai. Oscar me hoti hai lobby toh ye toh kya hai (I respect the National Award. But sometimes what happens is...due to technicalities - like a film not being submitted properly - that mess happens. People play games. Lobbying does happen, and it happens quite aggressively. If it happens at the Oscars, then why not here?)."

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