With the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections, many celebrities were being trolled for not being official citizens of India. Amongst them was also Akshay Kumar who holds a Canadian passport. While the actor had taken to social media earlier to speak about all the hoopla around him owning a Canadian passport and that he has never lied about it, now writer Apurva Asrani has slammed the National Award jury for presenting the prestigious award to Akshay Kumar for his film Rustom (2016) in 2017.
In 2017, Akshay Kumar was conferred with the award for Best Actor at National Film Awards. The same year the social drama Aligarh which was an Apurva Asrani film too was competing alongside the Akshay Kumar starrer. The film was based on a real life story of a homosexual professor who faced discrimination in the Aligarh University with Manoj Bajpayee playing the lead. Speaking of the same on his Twitter handle, Apurva lashed out at the National Award jury by saying, “Yes, this is a very important question. Are Canadian citizens eligible for India's National Awards? The year (2016) Akshay Kumar won 'Best Actor', we were expecting Manoj Bajpayee to win for Aligarh. If the jury/ministry has made an error in Kumar's case, will there be a revote??”
Yes, this is a very important question. Are Canadian citizens eligible for India's National Awards? The year (2016) Akshay Kumar won 'Best Actor', we were expecting Manoj Bajpayee to win for Aligarh. If the jury/ministry has made an error in Kumar's case, will there be a revote?? https://t.co/CvFRzw5aXS
— Apurva (@Apurvasrani) May 4, 2019
After he tweeted about it on his official handle, Raees director Rahul Dholakia who was in the National Awards jury then clarified on the issue. He too took to the platform to share a post which also included a page from the rule book of the Directorate of Film Awards. According to the same, the filmmaker said that the National Awards can be given to foreign nationals too. Here’s a look at the post:
Clarification on National Award- foreign nationals can get National Awards . it’s legal, legit and by the booksI have been on the jury ( not for this one) and so found out from an official Manoj Srivastava who sent me this. ???????? #NationalAward pic.twitter.com/wrAORcPdLC
— rahul dholakia (@rahuldholakia) May 4, 2019
Earlier this weekend, South actor Siddharth too had taken a dig at the actor’s foreign citizenship.
Also Read: Akshay Kumar CONFIRMS his CANADIAN citizenship, claims he does not need to prove his LOVE for India (Read statement)
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