While most of the Indian movie award shows these days feature big-budget films celebrated by fancy awards and high-profile performances, the REEL Movie Awards concentrates on small to medium-budget films, which nonetheless made a huge impact on their viewers and the landscape of Indian cinema.
Dia Mirza, who, along with film editor Deepa Bhatia and filmmaker Rahul Dholakia, was part of the jury for the 2019 edition of the News18 REEL Movie Awards, said that it was an honour for her to be associated with a set of awards that celebrates deserving cinema. "India doesn't need another watch show where it's hard to keep the record of who won what at the end of the awards, and hence, REEL Awards is a much-needed initiative," she said in her keynote address at the ceremony. "I remember who won what last year at REEL Awards. Ratna Pathak Shah wins the best actress, at 62 beats raced ahead of the popular leading ladies who are nuanced in their work, how often does that happen," she continued.
Mirza went on to explain that, unlike most other award shows, the REEL awards are committed to honouring independent, experimental, story-driven and smaller budget films, which we also refer to as content-driven cinema.
"The landscape of Bollywood is changing and the small, bold and content-driven films are receiving equal if not more love from the audience and critics alike. It's about time that these films get recognition and their due," said Mirza.
The actress stated that amidst all the debate, the jury voted from their heart, for the films that resonated with them and stayed with them long after watching the films.
Calling the experience empowering, Mirza invited Bhatia and Dholakia to join her on stage. Bhatia said that it was difficult for her to choose the best among the lot and if possible she would have liked to give the awards to three out of five nominees.
Dholakia stated that every film is a winner because only a filmmaker knows what goes into making a film, saying, "One of the reasons I accepted to be a part of REEL awards is because it was lower budget films which are in competition. It excites me to see how much can you do in a specific budget." Calling the experience inspiring he concluded by saying, "This type of cinema makes us so proud. It's like wanting to go back to school to learn something new. Thank you for teaching us."
At the ceremony, Meghna’s espionage drama performed well in the technical categories, scooping up wins for Best Lyrics (courtesy the director's father, legendary lyricist Gulzar) and Best Playback (Female) singing for its song Dilbaro, as well as Best Editing for Nitin Baid, with Alia taking home the award for Best Actress. Gajraj Rao won the award for Best Actor (Male) for his performance as the hapless father-to-be in Badhaai Ho, while Surekha Sikri won best supporting actress for her turn as the family's matriarch.
Tumbbad also dominated the technical section, winning awards for Cinematography (Pankaj Kumar), Best Sound (Kunal Sharma), and Best Production Design (Nitin Zihani and Rakesh Yadav).
However, it was Badhaai Ho that ended up having the best night.
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