The announcement of actress Katrina Kaif getting the Smita Patil Memorial Award created hoopla recently. Katrina was trolled on social media with many of the opinion being that she doesn’t deserve an award which remembers the classic actress Smita Patil. Nevertheless, Katrina received the award wearing an embellished ‘Sabyasachi’ gown on Monday in Mumbai by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari; and at the ceremony she said that she accepts it on behalf of all women who aim to excel in her field.
Given out by Priyadarshi Academy, the Smita Patil award honours those who have contributed to the Indian cinema. In the past, the award has been felicitated upon Vidya Balan, Tanvi Azmi and Tabu. Given the history of recipients and also the fact that Katrina has rarely received flowers for her acting skills, Katrina became the butt of jokes on social media. Many also called out the body for being partial.
The actress pointing out that the world of cinema is a patriarchal one, said that she is glad this is changing. Katrina said that an award that acknowledges women’s contribution to cinema is a great matter of pride.
Speaking highly for the namesake of the award Smita Patil; Katrina said that the late actress taught women that sometimes even sky is not the limit.
“This award honours the memory of one of the greatest and accomplished actresses whose role served as an inspiration to the lives of millions of women,” the 33-year old actress was quoted by a leading daily.
Katrina Kaif noted that for her the biggest accomplishment is the love that is showered on her by people but it is also overwhelming to be felicitated with an award like this.
“The one thing I do hope is I can continue to make the audience, who has given so much love and support over the last few years, proud of me and to deserve their love and support as they have given me,” Katrina added.
The Priyadarshni Academy had earlier said that Katrina was unanimously chosen by the members not only for her contribution but also because of she is an attractive personality. This had sparked jokes on Twitter, but recently a contemporary of Katrina actress Swara Bhaskar came out in her support. In a blog which Swara wrote for a leading web portal, she said that Katrina is hard working and she should be appreciated for that. In fact, Smita Patil’s son Prateik Babbar had also said in an interview that Katrina deserves it because of her dedication.
On the work front, Katrina has been roped in for Yash Raj Films’ ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’ opposite superstar Salman Khan.
