The annual Golden Kela Awards are India’s version of Hollywood’s Razzies and recognise the worst of Bollywood, but “it really hasn’t made much of a dent”, says Anant Singh, the creative head and event host.
“Take this year, for instance,” says the 31-year-old. “There were so many bad films – how can we do justice to them all?”
And the Kela goes to ...
But Singh’s team of four, including co-founder Jatin Varma, 30, are not ones to give up.
The seventh edition of the Golden Kela Awards (kela is Hindi for banana) will be held on March 14 in New Delhi to celebrate the worst films, actors, directors, songs, lyrics and sequels of 2014. Some actors have also been nominated in categories such as “Why Are You Still Trying?” and “Baawra Ho Gaya Ke?” (have you gone crazy?). And a few secret categories will be announced on the day.
The best part: Bollywood fans – and haters – can cast their votes online at www.goldenkela.com
“We usually receive about six million votes from around the world each year – which made me realise that some of the biggest fans of Bollywood live outside of India,” says Varma.
Picking worthy contenders
A few months before the ceremony, the team begins to sift through the scores of films and decide on nominations.
“Some years it gets really tough to make a selection – like 2014, when Bollywood produced so much garbage,” says Varma matter-of-factly. “Also, only A-grade films make it to the list,” Singh says.
"But when someone makes a masterpiece like The Xpose [starring Himesh Reshammiya] – a B-grade movie that failed at the box office, we bend the rules and add it to the list," explains Varma.
"The thing is, we look for films that are really stupid," says Singh. "For instance – this boggles my mind – why would someone take a failed film like Knight and Day and remake into a disaster like Bang Bang!?"
Grace under criticism
Unlike other awards shows, Golden Kela nominees rarely attend the ceremony. “We send them official invites but we can’t pay for their travel, so we don’t expect them to show up,” says Varma with a laugh.
Singh says the awards are usually accepted with good grace, like in 2009, when Abhishek Bachchan won the Dara Singh Award for the Worst Accent (for Delhi-6), attended the event and gamely accepted his award.
But not all are as sporting: someone who hasn’t been nice at all is the actress Sonam Kapoor, says Singh.
“On receiving an award for Worst Actress, Sonam famously said she doesn’t care about awards, but is regularly seen at all the other awards ceremonies,” says Varma.
• To vote, visit www.goldenkela.com. Voting closes on March 12
[ artslife@thenational.ae ]
