Urvashi, while acknowledging her own National Film Award win, criticized the selection process. She questioned the categorization of her and Vijay Raghavan’s roles as supporting, and lamented the exclusion of Aadujeevitham citing Empuraan.
Thiruvananthapuram: Urvashi has said that Malayalam Actor Prithviraj Sukumaran did not get the National Award due to the controversy Empuraan was embroiled in. “How could they omit Aadujeevitham? There’s an actor who dedicated his time and effort, undergoing a physical transformation to portray Najeeb’s life and struggles. We all know Empuraan is the reason behind the snub. Awards cannot be politicized,” The News Minute reported Urvashi as saying. The controversy surrounding Prithviraj and Mohanlal’s Empuraan, the sequel to Lucifer, erupted after its release due to its political undertones and plot premise of 2002 Gujarat Riots, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the then Chief Minister of the state.
She also said that it is not yet decided whether she would accept the award. “I was happy when Fahadh Faasil and Parvathy Thiruvothu (her co-star in Ullozhukku), took a stand in 2018.” The actors had declined to accept their National Film Awards after it was announced that the President would not be presenting them, breaking with long-standing tradition. Fahadh had won Best Supporting Actor for Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum, while Parvathy received a Special Jury Mention for Take Off.
She also expressed dismay on behalf of senior actor Vijayaraghavan, who won an award for best supporting actor. “If lead actors are given supporting actor awards, what happens to the real supporting actors? Where do they find the motivation to refine their craft? How do they measure whether a role is significant or supporting?” Urvashi asked.
Previously, Urvashi shared her experience with Asianet News when she won Best Supporting Actress for Achuvinte Amma in 2005: “Actor Saroja Devi, who was on the jury then, argued for me to receive the Best Actress award. She argued that it wasn’t a supporting role and that Achuvinte Amma was the title character. But her opinion didn’t prevail. When I went to receive the Best Supporting Actress award, she called me to her room and told me this directly. Even if someone speaks for us, the lobby there will win,” Urvashi had said.