Divya Dutta on National Film Awards controversy: Not being felicitated by President 'doesn't lessen its value'

Divya Dutta, who just won a National Award for her supporting role in Irada, isn’t feeling bogged down by the fact that the memento wasn’t handed to her by the President of India. Her comments come in the wake of the boycott of the ceremony by as many as 70 recipients on learning that the president will be personally handing the award to only 11 people. [caption id=“attachment_4383383” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Divya Dutta. Image from Twitter/@UrbanAsian[/caption] Minister of Information and Broadcasting Smriti Irani instead, gave away the awards to the winners along with Minister of State Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. The sudden switch disappointed a lot of awardees, who were looking forward to sharing the stage with the president. Dutta, however, says getting the award from Irani does not “lessen its value” since she is still being felicitated by the government of India. Speaking about her win to Hindustan Times and the change in plan, Dutta says, “I will be honest — everyone would love to get it from the President; but at the end of the day, it is ‘the’ National award and it (not getting it from the President) doesn’t lessen what I have in my hand. It has the stamp of the Government of India. It says that I am a National Award winner and I was getting it from somebody who is very honoured. I think when you reach there to take it, it’s beautiful; you just live in that moment. It doesn’t take anything away from me.” Dutta has won more than 25 awards for performances in acclaimed films like Veer-Zaara, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Delhi6.