Paresh Rawal reveals he lost out on National Award for Sardar due to lobbying: 'That's the kind of dirty politics that happens'

Veteran actor Paresh Rawal recently opened up about how he was supposed to receive a National Award for his performance in Sardar, but lost out because of lobbying. While he was honoured with a National Award for Mahesh Bhatt’s Sir, Paresh revealed that Sardar was also initially in consideration.

National Award for Sardar slipped away due to lobbying

Speaking to The Lallantop, Paresh recalled, “I was shooting in Mauritius around 1993 or 1994 when I received a call from Mukesh Bhatt early in the morning, telling me that I was getting a National Award for Sir. Shortly after, Kalpana Lajmi called and said I would also be getting a Best Actor award for Sardar. I was thrilled and confused at the same time.”

However, once Paresh returned to Mumbai, he found that only the award for Sir had materialised. Sharing what happened next, he said, “We went to Delhi and stayed at Ashoka Hotel. I was there with Ketan Mehta, Arun Khopkar, Khalid Mohamed, Shyam Babu (Shyam Benegal), and T. Subbarami Reddy. I asked Ketan Bhai, 'Everyone said I was getting awards for Sir and Sardar, so what happened?' That’s when Subbarami Reddy said, 'You guys didn’t lobby for it. We did. We lobbied aggressively.'”

Paresh explained that even though Mammootty was also nominated that year, lobbying played a role. Subbarami Reddy explained some technicalities regarding vote counts, which ultimately led to Mammootty winning the award.

Only two awards matter to Paresh Rawal

The actor further revealed that among all the accolades he has received, only two awards truly matter to him - the Dinanath Mangeshkar Award, which he received from Lata Mangeshkar, and the P. L. Deshpande Award. He mentioned that he even flew back from Singapore just to accept the former in person.

Video

That said, he still respects the National Award, but admits the system isn’t free of flaws. He added, "There are technical issues even with the National Awards. For example, Manisha Koirala’s film was not even submitted for consideration. That’s the kind of dirty politics that happens. Lobbying is rampant. If lobbying happens even at the Oscars, then this is no exception."

For Paresh, however, the real reward lies elsewhere. “When Naseeruddin Shah called me after watching Mumbai Meri Jaan and praised my work, that was the biggest award for me,” he said.