Actor Pavan Malhotra won his second National Film Award on Friday, August 16. The actor exclusively spoke to IndiaToday.in and expressed his excitement over winning the honour at the 70th National Film Awards for the Haryanvi film ‘Fouja’, based on the Indian Army.
He said his happiness knows no bounds because ‘Fouja’ was his tribute to the Indian Army, and it got its due recognition. He said, “I am feeling very good. This is my second National Award. The subject of this film is very close to my heart. It’s about joining the Indian Army. I have a great respect for the Indian Army. I am so proud that I got a National Award for a subject like this.”
Malhotra went on to talk about working in a regional film, especially for a Haryanvi market, where it is difficult to find a wider audience. When asked if a national award strengthens his faith in the audience accepting better content irrespective of the language, he said, “I guess so. It’s difficult to bring people from Haryana to watch a film. Even if it’s a Haryanvi film. At least that’s what I saw.”
The actor, who’s known for his work in Bollywood films like ‘Jab We Met’, ‘Black Friday’, ‘OMG 2’, ‘Mission Raniganj’, among others, added that he wanted ‘Fouja’ to be screened in schools for students. “When they released this film, the schools were really interested in showcasing it, but the exams were going on at that time. The timing was wrong. It will now feature on Doordarshan hopefully,” he said.
The actor went on to narrate an incident to elaborate on how the film’s story is etched in his heart and mind forever. He revealed, “A few months back, I went to Delhi and visited the War Memorial. I was picking up souvenirs. I have not been wearing a watch for years now. I saw a watch among those souvenirs. It would probably have cost around Rs 1,100. Honestly, no actor wears a watch that cheap. I picked it up, and I saw that the dial of that watch had featured the Battle of Longewala (part of the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war). I found it priceless. I wore it. I now show it to young children. I meet them and I greet them with ‘Jai Ho’. I can’t express in words the amount of love and respect I have for the Indian Army.”
Pavan Malhotra had won his first National Award for his performance in the 1998 film ‘Fakir’. He has worked in over 55 films across languages and done over 16 TV shows in a career spanning almost 40 years.
