The 72nd National Film Awards ceremony will be held in Gujarat, specifically in Ekta Nagar, formerly known as Kevadia, on September 22. The event will honor a film dedicated to the Statue of Unity, which will be awarded in the shadow of the monument.
The government has not provided an official explanation for moving the ceremony from New Delhi, nor has it clarified whether holding the awards in different locations will become a regular practice. Nevertheless, this move breaks a long-standing tradition.
The awards, established in 1954, were predominantly held in Delhi, although the 17th edition was organized at the University Auditorium in Madras, now Chennai, on November 21, 1970.
Among the award recipients is filmmaker Anand L Rai, who received the award for Best Direction in the non-feature film category for his work on the project 'Statue of Unity - Ekta ka Prateek.'