Now directors Kundan Shah and Saeed Mirza will also return their National Awards

Bollywood filmmaker Kundan Shah, who got his only National Award for the 1983 dark satirical film Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, has announced on Thursday that he will be returning it.

Shah, best known for Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron and popular TV serials like Nukkad, decided to return his national award in protest against what he called “the growing darkness” in the country as reported by The Indian Express.

Apart from Kundan Shah, filmmaker Saeed Mirza has also stated that he will returning his National award, reports CNN-IBN.

Shah is joining the army of film directors such as Dibakar Banerjee and eleven other filmmakers who returned their National Awards recently after students at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) ended their 140-day-old strike.

Both filmmakers were trending on Twitter on Thursday afternoon, with Twitterati hosting a variety of opinions on #AwardWapsi:

Kundan Shah is returning his national award in protest, saying "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro", but he may well take it back. "Kabhi Haan, Kabhi Na"

— Madhavan Narayanan (@madversity) November 5, 2015

Kundan shah to return his award for Jaane bhi do yaro, now for RW to open his ancestory & demonize him. How many of ur fav ppl will u banish

— Gabbar (@GabbbarSingh) November 5, 2015

My all time favourite 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaron" can't be made in current environment says Kundan Shah, Sign of #Intolerance times we live.

— Milind Khandekar (@milindkhandekar) November 5, 2015