GOLLAPUDI SRINIVAS NATIONAL AWARD 2017 goes to Konkona Sen Sharma for her debut film “A Death in the Gunj”

Chennai:16 .03. 2018. The 21st Gollapudi Srinivas National Award for the Best Debut film (2017) was bagged by Konkona Sen Sharma for her film “A Death in the Gunj”(English/Bengali ). The film was selected from 23 nominations from across the country in many languages including English, Malayalam, Tamil, Assamese, Bengali, Marathi and Kannada. The jury consisted of Shri. Singeetam Srinivasa Rao Veteran Film Director, Ms Swarnamalya Ganesh and Shri Krishnan of Kavithalaya.

Set in 1979, A Death in the Gunj is a coming of age story, about a shy student Shyamal Chatterjee. He uses a family road trip to McCluskiegunj, an old Anglo-Indian town, as an escape from his failed semester. At the outset, the makings of a perfect family holiday are in place but something is amiss. In the week that follows, Shutu’s quiet unravelling is overlooked by the family revellers, until the holiday ends with an implosion.

The earlier winners of this prestigious award include:

*SL.NO.*.	*NAME*	*FILM*	*LANGUAGE*	*YEAR*
1	*Shri. LESLIE CARVALHO*	*The Outhouse*	*English*	*1997*
2	*Shri. SHYAMA PRASAD*	*Agnisakshi*	*Malayalam*	*1998*
3	*Smt. MAJU BORA*	*Baibhab*	*Assamese*	*1999*
4	*Shri. SUBRATA SEN*	*Ek Je Acha Kanya*	*Bengali*	*2000*
5	*Smt. JANAKI VISHWANATHAN*	*Kutty*	*Tamil*	*2001*
6	*Shri. RAM MADHVANI*	*Lets Talk*	*English*	*2002*
7	*Shri. ANUP KURIAN*	*Manasarovar*	*English*	*2003*
8	*Smt. SONALI BOSE*	*Amu*	*English*	*2004*
9	*Shri. MOHANA KRISHNA*	*Grahanam*	*Telugu*	*2005*
10	*Shri. RAJNEESH DOMALAPALLI*	*Vanaja*	*Telugu*	*2006*
11	*Shri AAMIR KHAN*	*Taare Zameen Par*	*Hindi*	*2007*
12	*Shri. PARESH MOKASHI*	*Harischandrachi Factory*	*Marathi*	*2008*
13	*Shri. AMIT RAI*	*Road to Sangam*	*Hindi*	*2009*
14	*Ms. ANUSHA RIZVI*	*Peepli Live*	*Hindi*	*2010*
15	*Mr.MADHAV RAMADASAN*	*Melvilasom*	*Malayalam*	*2011*
16	*Mr KAMAL MOHAMMED*	*I D*	*Malayalam*	*2012*
17	*Mr. GYAN CORREA*	*THE GOOD ROAD*	*Gujarati*	*2013*
18	*Mr SANJEEV GUPTA*	*QUEUE*	*HINDI*	*2014*
19	*Mr JAYAPRAKASH RADHAKRISHNAN*	*THE LENS*	*ENGLISH*	*2015*
20	*Mr HEMANTH RAO*	*GODHI BANNA SADHARANA MYKATTU*	*KANNADA*	*2016*

The award comprising of a cash prize of Rupees One Lakh Fifty Thousand and a memento will be presented at a glittering ceremony to be held on 12^th August 2018 at THE MUSIC ACADEMY, Chennai.

Established in 1998, this trust envisages to perpetuate the memory of Gollapudi Srinivas a young director, who tragically passed away in an accident during the shoot of his maiden venture in 1992. The award is announced annually on the 17^th of March and presented on the 12^th of August each year.

The dignitaries who have participated in the award presentation ceremony in the last 19 years include Messers Sunil Dutt, Jaya Bachchan, Naseeruddin Shah, Mrinal Sen, Govind Nihalani, Mani Ratnam, Sekhar Kapur, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Aparna Sen, Mammooty, Akkineni NageswarRao, Dasari Narayana Rao, T Subbirami Reddy, Shabana Azmi, Sharmila Tagore, Aamir Khan, Shobana, Gautham Ghose, Anil Kapoor, Vidya Balan, Madhur Bhandarkar , Vishal Bharadwaj, Shatrughan Sinha, Lakshmi, Balu Mahendra,Rishi Kapoor,Chiranjeevi,Jayasudha, Gautam Vasudev Menon and Prakash Raj.

This award serves as a huge incentive for debutant directors who have laboured long and hard to translate their ideas onto celluloid. In their struggle and subsequent success, the family witnesses its own son’s dream come alive. This award promises first-time directors of not just nation-wide appreciation, but also recognition of their hard work, and encouragement to scale new peaks of success.

Also, in a bid to make the award function entertaining and educational as well, the spell binding guest performance is often flanked by a Memorial Lecture delivered by an eminent film personality. This serves as the perfect platform for the lecturer to share his/her wisdom and experience in filmmaking with the budding directors. Messers Naseeruddin Shah, Sunil Dutt, Goutham Ghose, Javed Akhtar, Mrinal Sen, Shyam Bengal, Amol Palekar, Goutam Ghose, Girish Kasaravalli, Girish Karnad and Rishi Kapoor have been part of this rewarding endeavor in the past. These lectures will be eventually compiled into a book for the sake of posterity.