Patna, July 17: In India, there’s no dearth of talented documentary filmmakers but there are very few enthusiasts who can appreciate their hard work, lamented National Film Award winners Meghnath and Biju Toppo at a function held at Patna museum today.

The two directors were addressing a crowd that had gathered to watch their films Iron is Hot and Ek Ropa Dhan which won the National Film Award in the non-feature film category for the year 2010. The function was organised by a group of documentary film enthusiasts — Avirat.

“We are happy that our films were recognised at the national level but more effort is needed to promote documentary filmmaking,” said Meghnath. Citing the reasons for poor response to documentary films, he said: “Most people are not aware how much effective can a documentary film be. They prefer to watch commercial films with songs and dance. I am not saying that all feature films are bad but almost 90 per cent of th-em lack meaning and sense.”

“Commercial films are full of illusion whereas the documentary films are real,” Biju Toppo. Naming a few exceptional documentary filmmakers in India, he said: Anand Patwardhan and Sudhir Mishra have made some excellent documentary films but very few people have watched them even though they talk about the society and the problems existing in day-today life.”