'The Kerala Story' did not receive enough attention, Adah Sharma deserved best actress: Director Sudipto Sen with comments on 71st National Film Awards

MUMBAI: Director Sudipto Sen has complained that 'The Kerala Story' was not given enough attention at the 71st National Film Awards. Kerala Story, a controversial film about a Muslim convert from Kerala, won awards for Best Director and Best Cinematography (Prasantanu Mohapatra). Sudipto Sen said that the film deserved to receive more awards. His response was in an interview given to a media outlet.

'Winning the Best Director award was an unexpected achievement. I was expecting an award in the technical categories. I wanted my technicians to be recognised for their efforts. If a film is to be talked about so much even after two years of its release, then it would definitely be technically good. That's why I expected the technicians to get an award. The cinematographer got it. But I would have been happier if the writer, the make-up artist and actress Adah Sharma had also received the award.'

'It is a great honour to receive the highest award in the country for directing a film after struggling for 20-25 years from a normal background. I have been living in Mumbai for almost 25 years. But I have never been able to adapt to Bollywood. The kind of films that the Mumbai film industry makes are not my style. I am still an outsider here. People here don't really know me. Their recognition has never been a big factor in my film journey. The recognition of my audience is important to me,' said Director Sudipto Sen.