The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented the 61st National Film Awards and Dadasaheb Phalke Award today (May 3, 2014) at a function at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that besides being a strong medium of expression, cinema is a vehicle of influence and persuasion for the youth. When our children witness scenes depicting violence and bloodshed, it does affect their psyche. It is incumbent on our film makers to make a concerted effort to distinguish between what clearly is an art form and what is not. The cinematic content of films should have a desirable impact on the social behaviour of people, especially the new generation. Faced with erosion of values in today’s context, cinema should play a catalytic role in resetting our moral compass. Our film makers should deploy their creative efforts to present and propagate core values such as patriotism, respect for women, compassion and tolerance, and honesty and discipline. He stated that he was hopeful that everyone associated with the film industry would use their talent and artistic pursuits to create meaningful and socially relevant cinema.