Okay, take your fan goggles off for a moment and consider this question: if you were to award Akshay Kumar for his acting in a film, which film would that be?

If you are an avid Bollywood movie watcher, you'll probably name Airlift. Or perhaps Special 26. If you're not into the Akshay Kumar-type films anymore, you'll probably go years back and name Hera Pheri.

Now let's define what an 'Akshay Kumar film' has meant in the last decade. A majority of them are usually films with paper thin story lines, a lot of slapstick comedy, one chartrocbuster that'll be a nightclub staple for months and basically a lighthearted, predictable comedy abounding in stereotypes. Some of these involve Kumar doing some mean action -- a trademark of his career and success.

Where does Tinu Suresh Desai's Rustom figure in all this? I'm afraid to say, nowhere.

Yet, earlier today, Kumar bagged the National Award in the best actor category for his performance in this film.

Based on the scandalous Nanavati murder case that rocked Mumbai in 1959, Rustom was at best a half-hearted attempt at a courtroom drama and a really comical attempt at a period film. Comical, but unintentionally.

It's worth mentioning that the jury chairperson this year was Priyadarshan, a filmmaker who has done as many as 6 films with the actor.

If we assume that the National Awards intends to award great acting and good filmmaking, awarding Akshay Kumar for Rustom is most likely to seem incongruous. Safe definitions notwithstanding, an award is an exercise in judging how one film or performance is superior to another. When you think about that, and the terrific work Kumar's peers have done in the preceding year, it's hard not to wonder what was going on in the jury's mind.