Bollywood director Kamal K.M. has been chosen for the 16 Gollapudi Srinivas National Award for his bilingual I.D .
The film was among 20 nominations from across the country in languages including Malayalam, Hindi, English, Kannada, Tamil and Marathi.
The award is instituted by the Gollapudi Srinivas Memorial Foundation in memory of Gollapudi Srinivas, who died in an accident in 1992, at the age of 26 years, while shooting his debut film.
The Hindi-English film, I.D ., is based on a real life incident and revolves round the search for a person’s identity in a city.
National award-winning editor A. Sreekar Prasad, one of the jury members, said I.D. was a brilliantly crafted film. “From the beginning to the end, the film keeps you hooked. In a way, the film also gives you a documentary feel.”
He said: “When such awards are conferred on youngsters, they become more responsible and may be persuaded to make only good films.”
Other jury members included actor Kushboo and directors Balu Mahendra and Singeetham Srinivasa Rao.
“Every shortlisted film I watched was starkly different. They may be debut directors but the passion they have for filmmaking is reflected in their films,” said Kushboo. I.D. , in particular, is excellent because it catches you off-guard and keeps you guessing all the time,” she said.
The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 1.50 lakh and a memento which will be presented at a ceremony on August 12.
