The impending ARY Film Awards have been in the news ever since the first announcement regarding the ceremony was made a few weeks back. Be it due to the international venue or the speculations regarding the host, the awards have been a major point of discussion on social media and the buzz surrounding the ceremony has been unprecedented. However, along with all this hype there have been some serious allegations regarding the authenticity of the awards and questions on its credibility.
It all began when production house MD Films announced that they will not be sending Bin Roye for nominations at the awards as they did not want their film to be a part of the award ceremony. What made the story more interesting was the fact that films such as Moor and Manto which have been produced and distributed by Geo Films were sent for consideration.
Galaxy Lollywood talked to Momina Duraid of MD Productions and got the answers straight from the lady herself. She stated (in an exclusive interview) that she had doubts on the authenticity of the awards as ARY itself was a film production/distribution company and further added that an award ceremony conducted by a related party will always have reliability issues.
Read More : GL Exclusive: Momina Duraid finally breaks silence on the ARY Film Awards-Bin Roye controversy
To get a clearer picture of the entire issue, I decided to talk to CEO of ARY Digital Jerjees Seja and get his side of the story.
Jerjees started off by narrating how ARY Film Awards came into being three years back when the channel decided that they needed to take an initiative and create a platform where the film talent gets some appreciation.
“The entire reason we started the ARY Film Awards were so that we could encourage the film-makers who were making films. We wanted to promote our talent and wanted them to know that their hard work was being acknowledged. There was hardly any industry when we started out with the awards!”, said a visibly hurt Jerjees.
I asked him my first question which was obviously about the authenticity of the awards and how they planned to address the questions raised by Momina Duraid on them being a film distribution/production company and having their own awards.
“Well firstly I would like to clear that the award are audited by independent bodies. To avoid situations like the one we are in now we make sure take such extra precautionary measures. All the votes are tabulated by bodies which have nothing to do with ARY”, said Jerjees.
Talking on the issue of them being a channel and having their awards, Jerjees gave the example of the Viacom 18 group in India which owns and operates the entertainment channel Colors, has a film production wing Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and is also involved with quite a few award ceremonies. Interestingly other film companies/banners allow their films to be part of the award ceremonies at Viacom and there is no fuss said Jerjees.
I raised the next issue of the ARY Film Awards taking a break in the year 2015. To this Jerjees said, “So the number of films in 2014 wasn’t enough to justify an award ceremony and moreover there were some other issues like coinciding with the Lux Style Awards so the ceremony was postponed. But we are considering all those films in the jury category this time around.”
Who makes up the jury was my obvious next question. “Well the jury consists of senior individuals from the industry such as actors, film journalists etc and we cant reveal the names. That is how things work worldwide as if we reveal the names the jury can be influenced by their friends from the industry and this is something we don’t want”, shared Jerjees.
Lastly I asked Jerjees does he have anything to say to MD Productions/HUM who has refused to send their film?
“Well, all I will say is that at the end of the day it is the talent that looses. Actors like Mahira Khan, Armeena Rana Khan etc. are the ones who are ultimately loosing a chance to get a nomination or an award. Its not fair for them. Moreover the technicians, writers, musicians loose out too. I think we need to come together, unite and celebrate our talent”, said Jerjees on an ending note.
To be honest before talking to Jerjees I personally had my doubts about the award ceremony and its credibility. But after this conversation with the man behind the award ceremony I realized that all they are trying to do is give Pakistan an award ceremony, something where the talent is appreciated! Putting aside all the arguments we need to realize that in the form of AFA we are finally having an award ceremony that is dedicated solely to cinema!
The grand award ceremony is all set to take place in Duabi on 10 March and Galaxy Lollywood would like to wish ARY Film Awards all the best.
