Bollywood award ceremonies are often said to be fixed or biased and the issue came to the limelight, again, this year when several deserving candidates were ignored at popular award shows.
In 2015, Bollywood saw several commercially successful films as well as critically acclaimed films, including "Bajrangi Bhaijaan", "Baby", "Maasan" and "Titli". However, several critically acclaimed films failed to even make it in the nomination lists.
Apart from films, even Bollywood celebrities who deserved awards were ignored at the award functions. According to Mid-Day, celebrities like Salman Khan, Kangana Ranaut, Akshay Kumar, Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui were disregarded at award shows.
Salman's "Bajrangi Bhaijaan", which was the most commercially successful films of 2015, received positive reviews for its storyline and actors' performances. While the film bagged Best Story or Best Film award at several events, Salman missed the Best Actor award.
Akshay Kumar's "Baby", which was one of the critically acclaimed films of 2015, failed to even find a place in the nomination lists of the popular award shows, including Filmfare awards.
Not only the fans, but also Bollywood filmmakers and actors expressed disappointment over the awards distribution. While some supported "Bajrangi Bhaijaan", some favoured "Titli" and "Maasan".
"Tanu Weds Manu Returns" director Anand L Rai sai that Salman should have won Best Actor for "Bajrangi Bhaijaan". "'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' deserved the Best Film award and Salman Khan should have been given the Best Actor – Male trophy," Rai told Mid-Day.
"My choice was 'Titli' for Best Film and Ranvir Shorey for Best Actor," Dibakar Banerjee told the tabloid.
"I was hoping for 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' to bag the Best Film award and Salman Khan to walk away with the Best Actor – Male honour," Anees Bazmee said.
"According to me, 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' was the Best Film of 2015 and Ranveer Singh deserves the Best Actor — Male award for 'Bajirao Mastani'," Remo D'Souza said.
