Biju Menon and Joju George shared the Best Actor award at the 52nd Kerala State Film Awards, while veteran actor Revathy won the Best Actress award for her performance in Boothakaalam.
Menon won the award for his performance in Aarkkariyam. Joju received the honour for his performances in Nayattu, Freedom Fight and Madhuram.
The winners for the year 2021 were announced by Saji Cherian, minister of Kerala Film Development Corporation and Chalachitra Academy, on Friday. The jury panel was headed by filmmaker Saeed Akhtar Mirza, and included directors K Gopinathan Sundar Das, Suresh Triveni, singer Bombay Jayshree, sound designer Haridhranath Dwarak Warier, cinematographer Fousiyaa Fathima, and lyricist C Ajoy.
As many as 142 films were submitted for the awards and 29 of them were shortlisted for the final round. This year’s entrants included 65 first-time filmmakers and six women filmmakers.
Director Jeo Baby’s Freedom Fight won the special jury mention award. Avasavyuham bagged the Best Feature Film award, and Vineeth Sreenivasan’s directorial Hridayam won the award for Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value.
Prappeda’s director Krishnendu Kalesh won the Best Debut Filmmaker Award.
Filmmaker Dileesh Pothan won the Best Director award for Joji.
The Second Best Film award was shared by two films – Nishiddho and Chavittu. Chavittu also won awards in two more categories: Best Sync Sound and Best Dance Choreography.
The Best Story Writer award was bagged by Shahi Kabir for Nayattu and Syam Pushkaran won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Joji.
Madhu Neelakandan won the Best Cinematographer award for Churuli.
The award for Best Music Director was won by Hesham Abdul Wahab, while the Best Lyricist award was bagged by BK Harinarayanan.
Mahesh Narayanan and Rajesh Rajendran won the award for Best Editing, while the Best Art Director recognition went to AV Gokuldas for Thuramukham.
The Best Singer awards were bagged by Sithara Krishnakumar and Pradeep Menon.
Sneha Anu and Adithyan won the Best Child Artiste awards and the award for the Best Children’s film was bagged by Kaadakalam.
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Three technicians of Minnal Murali – Melvin J, Andrew D’Cruz, and Justin Jose – won awards for Best Costume Design, VFX and Sound Mixing, respectively.
Actors Unnimaya and Sumesh Moor won for their supporting performances in Joji and Kala, respectively.
The winners for 2020 included Jayasurya (Best Actor), Anna Ben (Best Actress), Lijo Jose Pellissery (Best Director), and Jeo Baby‘s The Great Indian Kitchen (Best Feature Film).