Awards conferred by the President of India, Sh. Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi on May 3, 2014
The power-packed duo, Deepti Kakar and Fahad Mustafa, whose documentary Katiyabaaz (Powerless) has won the best investigative film at the 61st National Film Awards, received the prestigious award in New Delhi.
The award was conferred by the President of India, Sh. Pranab Mukherjee at a ceremony held at Vigyan Bhavan.
While announcing the award, the jury headed by the esteemed director Saeed Akhtar Mirza. issued a statement commending the film.
"For its cutting edge investigation into the life of a typical Indian city, the film uses strong characters, juxtapositions and humour to create a visual arch that delineates the haves and have-nots of power." It said.
The proud duo director-producer of the film say, "We are honoured and humbled by this award. Many thanks are in order, to our team for their patience and hard work and for sharing our dream; to our funders, for believing in our vision; to our families, the wind beneath our sails; and to the all those of you who have watched, critiqued and celebrated Katiyabaaz with us, a big heartfelt thank you!"
About the Film: Katiyabaaz/Powerless depicts the struggles over electricity in the city of Kanpur through the eyes of an electricity thief and an IAS officer.
Awards and Felicitations: Katiyabaaz premiered at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival and has screened in over 40 film festivals around the globe including Tribeca, Melbourne, Rio and Dubai. It has won Grand Jury Prize for Best Indian Film at the Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI), Best Documentary Film at Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and the EDA Award by the Federation of Women Film Journalists in Salem, USA.
About the National Film Awards: The Directorate of Film Festivals/Ministry of I&B present The National Film Awards for outstanding achievements in various fields of cinema. An independent jury of esteemed film personalities selects the awards.
The film is set to release in India soon.
