Paresh Rawal made a big claim during one of his recent interviews by saying that some amount of lobbying must be happening in the National Film Awards.

During an interaction with Raj Shamani on his podcast, Paresh spoke about the credibility of awards and said that he values appreciation from directors and writers more than any trophy. “I don’t even know much about awards. I’ll say that there might be a bit of lobbying in the National Awards, but not as much as in other awards. The rest don’t matter much. The National Award is reputed. Lobbying happens at Oscar awards too,” said the veteran actor.

Paresh spoke about how there is a lot of networking involved behind the awards, adding that big parties are hosted as part of lobbying efforts. “Haan bhaiya, Raj ki picture hai. Chalo jitne academy ke jitne members hote hain sabko whip up kiya jaata hai (So, it’s Raj’s film. Let’s get all the Academy members together and influence them).”

Paresh has won a National Award in the Best Supporting Actor category in the past for his performance in Woh Chokri (1994) and Sir (1993).

Meanwhile, on the work front, the actor was last seen in The Taj Story, which was released in theatres on October 31. He also played a supporting role in Ayushmann Khurrana and Rashmika Mandanna’s Thamma. He will be seen next in Akshay Kumar’s Bhooth Bangla and Hera Pheri 3.