2021 SE PAHLE TAK RAJNEETI KA SAAYA PADMA AWARDS PAR RAHA , TAB TAK PADMA AWARDS KA KOI MAHATAV NAHI THA.... By Ali Peter John

The day the Padma awards go without any controversy and are accepted unanimously, the awards will gain the kind of respect they have not received ever since they were founded in 1954 - ALI PETER JOHN

And instead of things changing for the better , they seem to be growing only worse.

Take a look at what is happening with the recent Padma awards and you will know what I am trying to say.

And to think of it , these kinds of stories have been happening ever since the Padma started .

But let me tell you about one particular incident which I was a witness and you will not be surprised at what happens in these times when with the coming in of dirty politics into every field anything but anything can happen.

Dev Anand was declared the winner of the Padma Bushan award at a time when many of his juniors had been conferred with the higher award like the Padma Vibhushan and even the otherwise very calm and peaceful Dev Anand who didn't very much care for any kind of awards took this award of the Padma Bhushan as some kind of insult to his seniority and his contribution to Indian Cinema .

And he took an instant and impulsive decision to return the award without giving any reasons because he felt that if he gave reasons it would lead to a controversy and he hated controversies.

He tried his best to keep the news about his returning the award a secret but the news somehow leaked out and before the awards could be announced he received a panicky call from the senior politician who was also one of the senior most Cabinet Ministers , Mr. Sharad Pawar who pleaded with Dev sahab not to refuse the award as he had recommended it.

The President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam presenting the Dada Saheb Phalke Award for the year 2002 to noted film actor and director Shri Dev Anand for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema at the 50th National Film Award function in New Delhi on December 29, 2003 (Monday).
The Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad is also seen.

Dev told him that he or anyone should have realised that he deserved the higher award and Pawar told him to understand his situation and promised him to see that he would be granted the Padma Vibhushan the following year.

But nothing like that happened and when Dev came to know about it, he smiled one of his best smiles and said," As long as politics is allowed to play its dirty hands in any field if life , these kinds of things are sure to happen".

It happened again with Dev during the Dadasaheb Phalke award. The award according to rules was decided by the majority of six of the previous Dadasaheb Phalke award winners.

Yash Chopra and Asha Bhosle at the muhurat of the film Maaee in Mumbai

Dev was declared the winner because four of the members voted in his favour and when an attempt was made to find out who the other two could be who felt that he didn't deserve the highest award for a filmmaker or an actor , it was found to the shock of many that the two members who voted against him were Yash Chopra and Asha Bhosle and when Dev came to know, he said ," What do these people have against me?

I have only tried to be good to them and I have tried my best to make my own contribution for the growth and development of the industry."

These awards I realise made the otherwise very pleasant and positive Dev a little bitter and sometimes even downright negative in his approach to people in the industry and the industry as a whole.

JAB DEV SAHAB KE SAATH AISE AISE GHINAUNE KHEL KHELE JAA SAKTE HAIN, TOH BAAKI LOGON KA KYA HO SAKTA HAI ISS MAHAAN INDUSTRY MEIN?