Home » Entertainment  » Bollywood Baatein »  Is she really the Best Actress in India? Raveena wins the National Award but it's a controversial honour for the 'Mast, Mast' girl.

With all the hue and cry over the National Film Awards being rigged, it's time to take stock and see who actually won.

Raveena Tandon won the best actress award for her portrayal of a sexually abused wife in Daman. The movie is directed by Kalpana Lajmi. Raveena Tandon is an innocent young woman who is married off to Sayaji Shinde. Marital rape is the lief motif of the film which ends on an empowering note for women. Among the other contenders for best actress were Karisma Kapoor and Tabu for Zubeida and Astitva, respectively.

Critics claim that the Best Actress Award seemed to have been determined even before the jury had started viewing the films.

Indeed the National Awards 2000 were mired in controversy with jury members talking about the 'saffronisation' of the awards, questioning the credentials of some jury members and stating that the awards were rigged by a "cynical political cartel which had pre-decided many of the awards".

Among ostensible political appointees to the jury included Panchjanya editor Tarun Vijay, BJP member Shatrughan Sinha's one-time TV producer Shashi Ranjan, BJP Cuttack MLA Nivedita Pradhan, Sushma Swaraj's campaign manager in Bellary Parvati Indusekhar, and Raveena Tandon's uncle Macmohan (Sambha of Sholay fame). The chairperson of the jury, actress Vyjayantimala Bali, also recently joined the BJP.

Three jury members -- filmmakers Pradip Krishen, Shashi Anand and dancer Madhumita Raut -- resigned in protest alleging the awards were rigged. A fourth member of the 16-member jury, actor Dhritiman Chatterjee, sent a dissent note to the President, protesting against the selection procedure. The angry members pointed out that the awards of best actor and best actress had gone to films which had either been rejected by the panel (Kalpana Lajmi's Daman) or had not been screened at all (Boney Kapoor's Pukar) Incidentally, Anil Kapoor won the Best Actor Award for 'Pukar'.