Dibakar Banerjee and nine other filmmakers returned their National Awards on October 28 to express solidarity with the agitating FTII students and protest against the growing instances of intolerance in the country. Dibakar Banerjee and nine other filmmakers returned their National Awards on October 28 to express solidarity with the agitating FTII students and protest against the growing instances of intolerance in the country.

Filmmaker Dibakar Banerjee faced criticism on the social media for announcing on October 28 his intention to return the National Award he won for his debut film, Khosla Ka Ghosla.

The backlash was triggered after the film’s producer Savita Raj Hiremath and actor Anupam Kher, who played the central character in the film, said that the National Award being returned by Banerjee was won in the Best Film category, which lauds the work of the entire team.

Hiremath of Tandav Films tweeted, “Khosla Ka Ghosla National award was for best film not Director its joint. we r not returning proud.of.It.” Retweeting her, Kher said, “Here is d producer of #KhoslaKaGhosla claiming that the National Award Dibakar Bannerjee returned didn’t belong to him.”

Banerjee was quick to respond to Hiremath and Kher. In an email to The Indian Express, he said, “I was given a medal and some prize money individually… I have decided to return my share of the honour, the medal and the money.”

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