On November 3, the winners of the 55th Kerala State Film Awards were announced. Film veteran Mammootty has been chosen as the Best Actor for his brilliant performance in director Rahul Sadasivan's critically acclaimed horror thriller Bramayugam.
Prakash Raj, who headed the Jury, addressed the repeated omission of Mammootty in the National Awards in recent years after he won the award in Kerala. Prakash Raj questioned the fairness of the National Awards scrutiny and said they don't "deserve" Mammootty.
"I don't mind saying that the National Film Awards are compromised. I am so happy to be a jury chairperson in Kerala because when they called me, they said that we need an outsider who is experienced, and we will not poke our hands into it. We will let you take a decision," Prakash Raj said on the sidelines of the event.
"That's not happening in the national awards, and we see it when files and piles are getting awards. If such sort of jury and government are there, they don't deserve Mammootty," he stated.
The winners of the 55th Kerala State Film Awards were announced at a press conference by Minister of Cultural Affairs Saji Cherian. The jury panel, which was headed by well known actor Prakash Raj, comprised eminent professionals such as film director Ranjan Pramod, filmmaker Jibu Jacob, screenwriter Santhosh Echikkanam, playback singer Gayathri Ashokan, Sound designer and director Nithin Lukose, and actor, writer and dubbing artiste Baghyalakshmi.
The panel scrutinised 128 films that participated in the competition and selected 38 to choose the winners.
Notable among the winners who were announced on Monday were actress Shamla Hamza who won the award for Best Actress for her performance in director Fasil Muhammed's film Feminichi Fathima. The film, which was also chosen as the Second Best Film after Manjummel Boys, fetched its director Fasil Muhammed the Best Debutant Director award.
The Special Jury Awards for Acting went to actress Jyothirmayi for her performance in Bougainvillea, Darshana Rajendran in Paradise, Asif Ali in Kishkindha Kaandam and Tovino Thomas in ARM.
A Special Award in any Category for Women/ Transgender went to Payal Kapadia for All We Imagine As Light. Prasanna Vithanage won the award for Best Story for the film, Paradise, which also won a Special Jury Mention award.
