Case before Patna High Court: ‘How is Kishore Kumar biography a book on cinema?’

The Patna High Court has issued a notice to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) seeking clarification on how a biography of Kishore Kumar was chosen as the Best Book on Indian cinema at the 70th National Film Awards. The matter stems from a petition filed by Hindi writer and literary critic Anant Prasad Sinha, who is represented by the pen name Anant.

Sinha is seeking to annul the 70th National Film Award for Best Book on Cinema, which was granted to 'Kishore Kumar: The Ultimate Biography', authored by Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Parthiv Dhar. The award was announced on August 16, 2024, and presented on October 8, 2024, at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. In his petition, Sinha alleged that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting breached its own eligibility criteria for the prestigious award.

The court acknowledged that counsel for the petitioner claims that the award committee's decision violated the guidelines published in the Notification dated 07.10.2024, which was later released in the Gazette of India by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Sinha's arguments centered around the violation of rules stipulating that the award be bestowed upon the best book on Indian cinema published in any language within India.

He also pointed out that his own entry, 'Do Gulfamo Ki Teesri Kasam', adhered to the guidelines and should have been the recipient instead. Sinha questioned the logic of awarding a biography of a singer-actor as a book on Indian cinema, drawing an analogy to the eligibility of a biography of B.R. Ambedkar on the Indian Constitution.