I had dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia. Back then, people with these disorders were called

08/13/2016 Gallery

'I had dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia. Back then, people with these disorders were called 'duffer'.

Back then, while growing up, the only thing my mother encouraged me to do was to watch movies, classic movies, in the theatre opposite my house,' said actor Boman Irani in Chennai on Friday.

 Looking back at his life while participating in the 19th Gollapudi Srinivas National Awards night, the actor said, 'When I was a struggling actor, a film made by a group of friends of mine,

of which I was a part, Let’s Talk, was given the Gollapudi award. I still remember coming to Chennai and standing in the corner of the auditorium while my director Ram Madhvani collected the award.'Irani went on to say that it was awards like these that helped and encouraged struggling artistes to continue doing what they were passionate about.

Every year, the award - a tribute to director Gollapudi Srinivas, who died at 25, on 12 August, 1992, while shooting his first film Prema Pustakam in Telugu - is presented to a debutant director.

Over the years, winners of the award have included directors such as Ram Madhvani and Aamir Khan for 'Taare Zameen Par'.This year, Jayaprakash Radhakrishnan won it for his English film 'Lens'.

This movie is about how a digital interaction between two strangers turns into a hostage drama.Jayaprakash said the award came at a time 'when I was at my lowest'. 'Thank you so much, Gollapudi family,' he said.