Why So Late?

Veteran actor Manoj Kumar has been honoured with the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award. The award is the greatest of all the awards that is given out in for the outstanding contributions in the field of Cinema. The actor has been severely ill since the last month and after a series of check-ups the doctors have allowed him to travel but have restricted his movements. The point here is that the award is announced at a stage when the candidates are not fit enough to travel smoothly. Earlier, Tapan Sinha was on a wheel chair when he awarded and Raj Kapoor used to wear an oxygen mask at time of getting awarded. The case was similar at the times of Pran and Shashi Kapoor. Manoj Kumar expresses his disappointment for the fact that the honour is given to the people at a very later stage, when they are not fit enough to move. The deserving contributors to this field shall be given the award at a much earlier stage when they are healthy. Director Mrinal Sen supports the argument and says that the award shall be given to the candidates at a younger age. He recalls the time when he had been awarded and he was fit and expresses how easy and delightful the entire procedure becomes. He says that the pleasure of winning an award that is as prestigious as the Dada Saheb Phalke Award is halved at thought of the extensive movements one has to make to be present at the ceremony to receive it. Adoor Gopalakrishnan has said that the deserving and skilled artists shall be honoured when they are at the peak of their career- not only does the winning gets more pleasant, but also the win at that age motivates them to do better work. Awards at a younger age make more sense and also simplify the entire process as a winner.