Case before Patna High Court: ‘How is Kishore Kumar biography a book on cinema?’

‘Kishore Kumar: The Ultimate Biography’ by Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Parthiv Dhar explores the life, music, and complex personality of India's most eccentric and versatile artist, Kishore Kumar. (File)

The Patna High Court on Thursday issued notice to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), asking them to explain how a biography of singer-actor Kishore Kumar was selected as the Best Book on Indian cinema at the 70th National Film Awards.

Justice Ajit Kumar was hearing a petition filed by Patna-based Hindi writer and literary critic Anant Prasad Sinha, who writes under the pen name ‘Anant’. Sinha has moved the court seeking to quash the 70th National Film Award for Best Book on Cinema, awarded to ‘Kishore Kumar: The Ultimate Biography’, authored by Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Parthiv Dhar, and published by HarperCollins. The award was announced on August 16, 2024, and presented at New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan on October 8, 2024.

In his petition, the petitioner alleged that the ministry — which oversees the awards — violated its own eligibility criteria for the prestigious award. Issuing notices to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, NFDC, jury members and the book’s co-authors, the court noted in its verbal order: “Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that to consider the best book for nomination in the 70th National Film Awards, the guidelines, as contained in Notification dated 07.10.2024, published in Gazette of India issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, is said to have been violated. At this stage, Senior Panel Counsel for the Union of India seeks three weeks’ time to file a specific counter-affidavit addressing the grievances raised by this petitioner.”

The matter will next be heard on October 8.

In his petition, Sinha challenged the award on two main grounds: that the award committee violated rules specifying that the honour must go to the best book on Indian cinema published in any language in India, and that his own entry, ‘Do Gulfamo Ki Teesri Kasam’, fully satisfied the guidelines and should have received the honour instead.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Sinha said: “My contention is simple: If a biography of Kishore Kumar can be called a book on Indian cinema, can a biography of B.R. Ambedkar be called a book on the Indian Constitution? I raised this argument with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry unsuccessfully before moving the court”.

Under the National Film Awards guidelines, the winner of the Best Book on Cinema category receives the Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) and a cash prize of Rs 1,00,000. The 70th edition required entries to be published between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2022.

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‘Kishore Kumar: The Ultimate Biography’ by Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Parthiv Dhar explores the life, music, and complex personality of India’s most eccentric and versatile artist, Kishore Kumar. Meanwhile, in ‘Do Gulfamo Ki Teesri Kasam’, Sinha explores the six-year journey behind adapting Phanishwar Nath Renu’s classic Hindi short story, ‘Maare Gaye Gulfam’, into the 1966 Bollywood film ‘Teesri Kasam’.

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Santosh Singh is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express since June 2008. Expertise He covers Bihar with main focus on politics, society and governance. Investigative and explanatory stories are also his forte. Singh has 25 years of experience in print journalism covering Bihar, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.   ... Read More

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