Decision taken in protest against CAA and the NRC

The crew of the national award-winning Malayalam movie Sudani from Nigeria has decided to boycott the National Film Awards function in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) .

The Soubin Shahir-starrer bagged the national award for the Best Malayalam film in 66th National Film Awards. Director Zakariya Mohammed took to Facebook, protesting against CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

“Protesting against CAA and NRC, I, as the director of Sudani from Nigeria, along with scriptwriter Muhsin Parari and the producers of the film, will not attend the National Award ceremony,” director Zakariya Mohammed posted on Facebook.

Sudani from Nigeria is a 2018 Malayalam comedy-drama sports film , written and directed by Mohammed, with dialogues co-written by Muhsin Parari. It stars Soubin Shahir and Samuel Abiola Robinson.The story is about a Nigerian football player who joins a club in Malappuram for the sevens football match.

The movie, which was a commercial success, won five awards at the 2018 Kerala State Film Awards, including Best Screenplay, Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value, Best Debut Director, Best Actor (Shahir), and Best Character Actor (female) (Savithri Sreedharan and Sarasa).

At the 2018 National Film Awards, besides the award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam, Savithri Sreedharan received a Special Mention for her performance in the film.

Last year, the award distribution function was marred by a row when it was announced that the President would hand over only a few awards and the rest would be given away by the then Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani.

Protest against this, which was against the established practice, nearly 60 National Film Award recipients skipped the ceremony held in New Delhi.