Rahul Dholakia questions the move of National Awards ceremony to Gujarat. (Photo: Express Archives)A day after government officials announced that the National Film Awards ceremony will move out of Delhi, and relocate to Kevadia, Gujarat, filmmaker Rahul Dholakia has questioned the move. He argued that the ceremony could have been moved to a place that has contributed more significantly to Indian cinema, like Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu or even the city of Hyderabad, instead of Gujarat.Rahul Dholakia questions National Film Awards shift to Gujarat“I have no particular love lost for Delhi hosting the National Film Awards, but I question the shift to Gujarat. Why Gujarat?,” wrote Dholakia on his X handle on Tuesday morning. “When you are breaking the tradition of presenting the award in another city/state, then why not give that honour to a state that has contributed to cinema? Like Maharashtra or Kerala or Tamil Nadu. Even a city like Hyderabad (sic),” he added.Dholakia is a National Film Award recipient himself, winning the Best Director honour for his 2007 film Parzania, set amid the backdrop of 2002 Gujarat riots. His 2017 film Raees, starring Shah Rukh Khan, was set in Gujarat.While Gujarati cinema is a key component of Indian films, its centre is in the city of Ahmedabad, not in Kevadia, where the awards are bing held. Similarly, cities like Mumbai and Pune have contributed a great deal to Indian cinema through Hindi and Marathi films. In the South, Kerala has been the hub of Malayalam cinema, Chennai, Tamil Nadu of Tamil cinema, and Hyderabad, Telangana of Telugu cinema.The National Film Awards ceremony will move out of Delhi for the first time in its 72-year history. The first National Awards in 1954 were held in Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan that has hosted most of the award ceremonies since. Kevadia, which has been renamed Ekta Nagar, is home to the world’s tallest statue, that of legendary freedom fighter and India’s first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The Statue of Unity, as it is named, stands at 597 feet, and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018.72nd National Film AwardsPresident Droupadi Murmu will present the honours at the 72nd National Film Awards ceremony in Kevadia on September 22. Aditya Suhas Jambhale’s 2024 political action thriller Article 370 won the Best Feature Film, and its lead star Yami Gautam won the Best Actress. Malayalam superstar Mammootty and Bollywood star Kartik Aaryan will share the Best Actor award for their roles in Rahul Sadasivan’s period folk horror film Bramayugam and Kabir Khan’s period sports drama Chandu Champion respectively.Also Read: I discovered Mammootty late. Now I understand why he’s one of India’s greatestStory continues below this adActor-filmmaker Randeep Hooda has been named the Best Debut Director award for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, a biopic of politician Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. Nag Ashwin’s Telugu science-fiction epic Kalki 2898 AD will receive the award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, while Tamil action thriller Captain Miller, directed by Arun Matheswaran and starring Dhanush, has been named the Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social and Environmental Values.