1997 National Awards sabotaged at last minute; Balachandra Menon claims ‘Samantharangal’ was denied three major honours

Veteran actor and filmmaker Balachandra Menon has alleged that the 1997 National Film Awards were deliberately sabotaged at the final stage.Speaking during a media interaction organised as part of his 50th year in cinema, Balachandra Menon said that the film 'Samantharangal', along with his performance and direction, had already been finalised for three major National Awards — Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Feature Film — before the results were allegedly manipulated by members of the award committee. As reported by Manorama Online, to support his claim, Balachandra Menon presented a video featuring Devendra Khandelwal, who was a jury member during the award year in question. In the clip, Devendra Khandelwal discloses that the three awards were initially confirmed in favour of 'Samantharangal' and Balachandra Menon, but objections were raised at the last minute. This resulted in the awards being shifted elsewhere. Balachandra Menon said the video wasn’t recorded recently, rather, it was filmed years ago and kept confidential until now.According to Balachandra Menon, Devendra Khandelwal confessed to him in Delhi when the 'Chiriyo Chiri' actor arrived to receive the awards, that he had been carrying guilt about what happened. He revealed that it was not just random interference, but a coordinated move by “a few individuals,” including a Malayali jury member, to prevent one film and one filmmaker from receiving three prominent honours in the same year. Balachandra Menon described hearing this for the first time as “deeply shocking.”Although Menon received the National Award for Best Actor, shared with Suresh Gopi for Kaliyattam, he believes the honour owed to Samantharangal was reduced through manipulation.Meanwhile, on the work front, Balachandra Menon was last seen in 'Pulimada'.