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Kerala State Film Awards 2022: Vijay Babu’s ‘Home’ crew cry foul

The crew of ‘Home’, produced by Vijay Babu, wondered if the film was denied its deserved honour because of the sexual assault case involving Babu.

Kerala State Film Awards 2022 Vijay Babu Home crew cry foul drb
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Mumbai, First Published May 28, 2022, 7:50 PM IST

A controversy erupted a day after the 52nd Kerala State Film Awards concluded on Friday. Vijay Babu’s film ‘Home’ could not fetch a single award at the ceremony, leaving its team wondering if it happened because Vijay was accused of sexual exploitation, even though the film deserved the honour.

Social media was abuzz with critical comments against the jury panel that decided the winners in various categories. The comments accused the jury of completely sidelining ‘Home’, a family drama that became a hit on an OTT platform, and also accused of ignoring Indrans’ performance as the protagonist in it. The senior actor, Indrans, on Saturday said that the jury may possibly not have seen the film, adding that otherwise, they could not have ignored a good cinema like 'Home'

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‘Home’ revolves around a middle-class family and their relationship issues. Accepting that he was hopeful of receiving recognition for his performance in ‘Home’, he said that the film was a result of sheer hard work put in by a group of people battling the Covid-19 pandemic. "... Its not just about me, but several people including actress Manju Pillai who deserve the honour," said the actor.

Indrans also did not rule out the possibility of the film failing to bag a single award because of the sexual assault case registered against Vijay Babu. Speaking about it, he said, “If one member of a family has done anything wrong, is it good to punish all members of that family? Ok.. Babu is named as accused in the case. But, what will happen if he is given a clean chit in the case? Will this movie be considered for awards again and screened before this jury again?" Not only Indrans, but director Rojin Thomas and actress Manju Pillai too shared their despair over ‘Home’ not fetching an award in any category.

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However, Saeed Akhtar Mirza, a prominent Hindi filmmaker and scriptwriter, who led the jury, rejected the claims, and called the controversy "ridiculous". He said all the members of the panel had seen the movie but it was nowhere in the final rounds in any category.

"It’s a ridiculous accusation that the jury did not see the film. Every single member of the panel has seen it," said Mirza, adding that the film was nowhere in the final rounds of any category.

Saeed Akhtar Mirza also categorically stated that Vijay Babu’s sexual assault case had nothing to do with the selection of the movie, further adding that neither Indrans nor Manju Pillai was considered for best actor or actress.

Meanwhile, actor-producer Vijay babu has been on a run since the time a rape case was registered against him. He also recently moved to Kerala High Court seeking anticipatory bail. The court, however, said that it will consider his bail plea only if he is able to provide his travel tickets indicating his return to India.

(With inputs from PTI)

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