While I am still trying to figure what IIFA means by giving the two actresses from Laapata Ladies the Best Actress and the Best Debutante awards, I am yet to understand why one of the best films of 2024, if not THE best, Do Aur Do Pyaar was completely obliterated from the awards.
Forget winning; Applause Entertainment’s Do Aur Do Pyaar didn’t even get nominated in any of the categories. So, were the IIFA awards only celebrating the successful films of the past year?
If so, imagine what would have happened to Guru Dutt’s Kagaz Ke Phool or Raj Kapoor’s Mera Naam Joker.
Do Aur Do Pyaar is a far superior work to almost every film we’ve seen in 2024. It is breezy and lighthearted, but never frivolous. Director Shirsha Guha Thakurta dives deep into a marriage in crisis. Miraculously, she finds a lot of laughter and humour in the crisis. This in no way, trivializes the marital conundrum. The writing is clearly the star of the show. When you add an actor of Vidya Balan’s calibre to what’s from the outset, a screenplay woven from the threads of real life, the end result is bound to be something special.
Not giving Vidya Balan the Best Actress award for 2024 is akin to ignoring Meena Kumari in Pakeezah , which by the way did happen. In 1973 Meena Kumari lost the Filmfare award for best actress to Hema Malini in Seeta Aur Geeta. During the same year, Rajesh Khanna’s classic performance in Amar Prem lost Filmfare’s best actor award to, don’t laugh, Manoj Kumar in Beimaan.
