Ilangovan Rajasekaran, Deputy Editor, Frontline, has won the Bala Kailasam Memorial Award for the print media category. Announced in Chennai on October 20, the award was in appreciation of “Great sand mine robbery”, the Cover Story in Frontline dated July 24. The award was instituted by the Cinema Rendezvous Trust in memory of Bala Kailasam, TV professional and activist documentary film-maker and son of the late director K. Balachander, to recognise “innovative use of media towards social causes”.
Commending the article, the citation said: “Cinema Rendezvous takes pleasure in recognising and appreciating [the] commendable article ‘Great Sand Mine Robbery’ as the most efficient use of print media for a social cause. Illegal mining of natural resources like river sand, granite and placer minerals in utter disregard of the laws of the land, the environment and the lives and livelihoods of millions of people has made India a disaster waiting to happen. [The] Frontline cover story documents and analyses this blatant and widespread exploitation of natural resources in Tamil Nadu. [It] meticulously documents how this debilitating act is fuelled by greed, official complicity and political patronage.”
Cinema Rendezvous is a registered non-profit trust founded by the actor and entrepreneur Shylaja Chetlur, which works in the fields of arts, culture and related platforms, promoting social dialogues through the creative arts. The first Bala Kailasam Memorial Award 2015 for the film category went to Haobam Paban Kumar, a Manipuri film-maker, for his documentary film “Phum-Shang” (Floating Life).
The jury also awarded citations to CgnetSwara (social media category), Gurgaon ki Awaaz (radio) and Rajya Sabha TV - Sarokar (television). Additionally, “Kodaikanal won’t”, a rap video, received a special mention.
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