Fact-Check: Did 'The Kashmir Files' Win The Dada Saheb Phalke Award?
The movie won in the "best film" category at the Dada Saheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards 2023.
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Several news organisations and filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri on Tuesday, 21 February, announced that the movie The Kashmir Files got the Dada Saheb Phalke Award 2023 in the "best film" category.
The filmmaker tweeted the photograph of the award as well.
(Slide left for more.)
An archive of the post can be found here.
An archive of the post can be found here.
An archive of the post can be found here.
But...: The claim is misleading as the movie didn't win the Dada Saheb Phalke Award but was selected as the "best film" at the Dada Saheb International Film Festival Awards 2023.
What is The Dada Saheb Phalke Award?
The Dada Saheb Phalke Award was first given in 1969 by the Government of India to commemorate filmmaker Dadasaheb Phalke's contribution to Indian cinema.
Phalke directed India's first full-length feature film, Raja Harishchandra in 1913.
It is given to one outstanding contributor to Indian cinema each year.
The first recipient of the award was Devika Rani.
The latest Dada Saheb Award has been presented to Asha Parekh in the year 2020.
The awards are given by directorate of film festivals, which comes under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
The website mentions that the award comprises a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a shawl, and a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh.
The same can be seen in photos shared by Bollywood actor
Amitabh Bachchan, when he won the award in 2019.
What is the Dada Saheb Phalke International Film Festival?
The Dada Saheb Phalke International Film Festival (DPIFF) was founded in 2012 to take forward the legacy of Dadasaheb Phalke. According to the DPIFF website (archived here), it is India's "only independent international film festival."
It was founded by Anil Mishra, who acts as the Managing Director. He is also serving as the advisory panel under Central Board of Film Certification, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Dadasaheb Phalke's grandson Chandrasekhar Pusalkar is the president of the jury.
The website lists Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Former President of India Ram Nath Kovind and other BJP leaders as "well wishers". It also carried a letter from Shah about the 2023 awards on its homepage.
It is independent of the Dada Saheb Phalke Award, which is presented by the government.
You can find the 2022 winners in this article here.
The DPIFF 2023 award for The Kashmir Files.
(Photo: Twitter/Screenshot)
An Ongoing Confusion?
There have been previous instances of confusion because of the name. In 2018, when several news organisations misreported about about the award, CBFC board member Vani Tripathi Tikoo had taken to Twitter to state the facts.
Tikoo had said in 2018, "There is only one "Dada Saheb Phalke" Award constituted by @MIB_India anyone else using the name is a gross violation of this prestigious award and its name (sic)."
A report in The Hindustan Times, also published in 2018, talked about the confusion.
The report quoted then Joint Secretary (films) Ashok Kumar Parmar as saying, "What can the ministry do? And under what rule can we take action? You can’t stop them, since they’re not exactly copying the name. They twist and use the name and organise a function."
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