55th Kerala State Film Awards announced; Mammootty wins Best Actor for 'Bramayugam'; 'Manjummel Boys' chosen as Best Film

Chennai, Nov 3 (IANS)Malayalam superstar Mammootty has been chosen as the Best Actor for his brilliant performance in director Rahul Sadasivan's critically acclaimed horror thriller 'Bramayugam' while the sensational hit 'Manjummel Boys' has been chosen as the Best Film by the jury of the 55th Kerala State Film Awards, which were announced in Thrissur on Monday.

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 of 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 scrutinized 128 films that participated in the competition to choose 38 films for the final round out of which the winners were picked.

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.

'Manjummel Boys' stood tall, winning 10 awards including the award for Best Director. Chidambaram, who directed the survival thriller 'Manjummel Boys', won not only the award for Best Director but also won the award for Best Original Screenplay. Soubin Shahir, who played a pivotal role in the film, won the award for Best Character Actor (Male) along with Sidharth Bharathan for 'Bramayugam'. 'Manjummel Boys' also won awards for Best Sound Mixing and Sound Design. Its art director Ajayan Challissery took home the award for Best Art Direction while its cinematographer Shyju Khalid won the award for Best Cinematography.

Another superhit film 'Premalu' was chosen as the Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value.

Lijomol Jose won the award for Best Character Actor (Female) for her performance in 'Nadanna Sambhavam'. The Award for Best Screenplay (Adapted) went to Lajo Jose and Amal Neerad for 'Bougainvillea'.

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.

--IANS

mkr/