Filmmaker Sudipto Sen, who recently won the National Award for his film The Kerala Story (2024), has taken a swipe at this year’s Filmfare Awards for naming Laapataa Ladies Best Film. In his latest Instagram post, he described the awards show as a “tamasha in the name of cinema.”
Taking to his Instagram handle, Sen posted a long note on the awards show, which read, “This year Filmfare truly is an expose of Indian ‘nouvelle vague’… A blatantly plagiarised film… a film which is a tutorial of brutality and a film which did not survive the box office for more than 72 hours took away most of the crowns. As expected the best work of 2024 remain elusive. Realised, why Filmfare was so vocal against The Kerala Story receiving National Awards. I am happy that this ‘wood’ community does not recognise, invite or choose us.”
He added, “We are spared from faking smiles, faking comradier, and most importantly, not indulging in any sycophancy. In the end- I am happy that we are saved from hobnobbing with this tamasha in the name of cinema in Mumbai and clicking selfies in Cannes. Atleast we are saved from these ugly hypocrisies and fake tapestry in the name of cinema.”
Along with the post, Sudipto Sen wrote in the caption, “I never expect anything great from any Indian cinema establishment, particularly when it is media or cinema journalism. Mostly enamored by the glamor and rich-world of the stars, exactly the way people from villages and small cities gather in front of Mr. Bachchan or SRK’ house. They actually have ZERO contribution towards cinema, cinema art, the way world media does for world cinemas.”
While Sen did not mention any film titles directly, it was evident that the film he called “blatantly plagiarised” referred to Laapataa Ladies, the one he described as a “tutorial of brutality” was Kill, and the film that “did not survive at the box office for more than 72 hours” was I Want to Talk.
For the unversed, Sudipto Sen won the National Award for Best Director last month for The Kerala Story, which also received the award for Best Cinematography.
