Mumbai, Apr 18 (PTI) Filmmaker Vinay Shukla’s multiple award-winning documentary “While We Watched”, a turbulent newsroom drama featuring Ravish Kumar, has won the Grand Prize at the inaugural 2025 Henry Awards at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy.

The award is given for Public Interest Documentary by The Documentary Film in the Public Interest Initiative. It recognises nonfiction films that advance public understanding of the critical issues of our time while demonstrating outstanding cinematic achievement.

Directed and produced by Shukla and produced by Luke W Moody and Khushboo Ranka, “While We Watched” follows journalist Ravish Kumar for two years as he battles a barrage of fake news, falling ratings and the resulting cutbacks at his organisation.

“‘While We Watched’ premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival where it won the ‘Amplify Voices Awards’.

Starting with the 2025 Henry Awards, a grand prize of USD 100,000 will be awarded annually while each of the four finalists will receive a prize of USD 25,000. The award winners, finalists, and honorable mentions were recognized at a celebratory dinner on campus on April 16.

Shukla said it was an incredible honour to receive the Henry Grand Prize – especially from an institution like Harvard, which has long stood for “intellectual rigour, public service, and the pursuit of truth”.

“‘While We Watched’ is a deeply personal film – not just about one journalist, but about what it means to hold on to your values when everything around you is shifting. We made this film against impossible odds: with no money, partners dropping out mid-production, and constant uncertainty about its future. To see it capture the zeitgeist the way it has over the past few years has been truly heartening,” the filmmaker said.

Shukla said he feels like he has won “Kaun Banega Crorepati”, a popular quiz reality show hosted by Amitabh Bachchan as the prize money is the same.

“I feel like I’ve just won KBC – which is quite something, considering I wasn’t the smart sibling,” he added.

The jury for the 2025 Henry Awards, comprising Ra’anan Alexandrowicz, Mandy Chang, Petra Costa, Ron Nixon and Michèle Stephenson, said, “‘While We Watched’ is an exceptional cautionary tale that takes an unflinching look at the State’s violent crackdown on freedom of expression through the experience of a journalist who dares to defend his integrity.

“Ravish Kumar is an unforgettable character. His specific story manages to instantly transcend its locality and become a real time documentation of the attack against the free press. The film is a brave effort by the filmmakers that should serve as a warning to us all.” PTI BK BK BK