Jury board reconsiders nomination for Meril-Prothom Alo Award

Earlier on May 10, nominees for the year of 2022, for Meril-Prothom Alo Award were announced. In the list, it was mentioned that the jury board could not name nominees for the 'Best Actress' award. This led to an uproar on social media.

Mehazabien Chowdhury, Tasnia Farin and Sabila Nur posted statements condemning the absence of the 'Best Actress' nominations in the TV series/Limited Feature Film/ Short Film category, in protest.

Considering the matter, the jury board reconsidered their decision and nominated two female leads for the 'Best Actress' award in the categories of Limited Feature Film and Short Film category, for the year of 2022. The nominees are: Sabila Nur for her role in "Hridika" and Nazia Haque Orsha for her performance in "Galiber Prem O Boshonter Kabbyo".

The jury board also expressed their opinion in this regard on the verified Facebook page of Meril-Prothom Alo Award.

Since 1999, the 'Meril-Prothom-Alo Award' has been given to artistes and crew for their contributions to film and television. This prestigious award inspires artistes to continue to create quality projects.

OTT projects, including our films, are finding a place in major festivals across the borders of the country, going on to receive appreciation. While sad, it is true that there is a lack of consistency in good television projects, which has been observed for a long time and there are many reasons behind this.

This trial was not comfortable for the members of the jury. The confusion over no nominations for the 2022 Critics' Award Best Actor (Female) is not due to our neglect towards actresses.

We feel that the presence of female protagonists in our stories is considerably low. As a jury, we were disappointed. That doesn't mean the actresses aren't performing well. Rather, we have seen good performances by actresses in women-led stories before, despite women having fewer opportunities. We are aware that actresses are working with talent and hard work, despite many limitations.

Projects are judged from various perspectives for the Critics' Award. Story, production, acting and many other elements together make a project admirable. As judges, we found that kind of work lacking.

It should be noted that there are separate awards for popular genres, which are conducted through reader polls.

We know, we have to work within many limitations. But it is also true that even within many limitations, many beautiful projects have been made in the past, though fewer in numbers, they were still being made.

Another thing we would like to clarify in the background: After the 2022 nominations were finalised by the jury, the Prothom Alo authority announced that one project that was nominated was from 2021. That's why we had to drop that particular project.

Nowadays, we feel that thoughtful work is getting lost in the rush to produce a larger quantity of projects. So, the members of the jury board left this category empty, to change our view of what constitutes a good project. You may have been hurt by our decision, but we feel we have managed to get our feelings across to you anyway.

Surely, in the future, television and short-form projects will continue to improve. We were truly touched by the fact that you were moved by our initial decision. That is why we have announced the name of the two remaining people that were selected.