Supporting the stand of filmmakers and writers returning their National and Akademi awards respectively, veteran actress Shabana Azmi termed it a 'symbolic gesture' to raise awareness about "growing intolerance".

The 65-year-old "Arth" actress' response comes after some eminent film personalities returned their National Awards in solidarity with FTII students.

"It is not an either or. Artists returning awards will also reflect their concern in their work but making a film writing a book takes time...Returning awards is a symbolic gesture that brings attention.

Instead of damning them read the writing on the wall," Azmi wrote on Twitter.

Ten filmmakers including Anand Patwardhan, Dipankar Banerjee, Paresh Kamdar, Nishtha Jain, Kirti Nakhwa, Harshavardhan Kulkarni, Hari Nair, Rakesh Sharma returned their National awards last week.