Aamir Khan was not awarded as he had said that he wouldn’t personally accept the award if he is given one: Priyadarshan

The 64th National Film Awards were announced yesterday. Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar and Malayali actress Surabhi Lakshmi won the top honours in the acting category. The jury this year was headed by veteran filmmaker Priyadarshan.

The jury’s decision to overlook potential winners such as Aamir Khan (Dangal), Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Raman Raghav 2.0) and Manoj Bajpai (Aligarh) were questioned by many.

In a recent interview, Priyadarshan was asked about why Akshay was opted over Aamir Khan. The latter’s perfomance and efforts to play an aged wrestler’s role in Dangal was unanimously appreciated. When asked about why Aamir was not a deserving contender for the top honour, Priyadarshan is quoted saying,

“Aamir recently said that he wouldn’t personally accept the award if he is given one. If I remember, Aamir didn’t attend the ceremony when he won the award for Taare Zameen Par. So, why spoil it for some other actor who stood as good a chance of winning the award.”

Social media users across the country expressed their displeasure over the jury’s choices. Most people felt that Akshay won the award because of his close proximity with Priyadarshan. It must be remembered that the two have worked together on several movies like Hera Pheri, Bhool Bhulaiya and Garam Masala.