Mammootty wins best lead actor in Kerala State Awards

Saji Cherian, Minister of Kerala for Cultural Affairs, declared the winners of the 53rd Kerala State Film Award on Friday, July 21. The winners were selected by a jury headed by well-known Bengali film directors and screenwriters, consisting of Gauthami (actor), Hari (Cinematographer), Jency Gregory (Singer), and D (Sound Designer) Yuvaraj. The award ceremony was hosted by Kerala’s prestigious state-level chalanachitra academy. Malayalam Megastar Won the best actor award for Lijo Jose Peliserry’s Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam.

The awards ceremony was initially scheduled to take place on July 19, but was postponed to Friday following the death of former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy. This year’s edition was different from the previous ones as it witnessed an interesting clash of the titans of the industry with Mammootty facing off against a host of big names such as Kunchako Boban, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Darshana Rajendran, Bindu panicker, Lijo Jose Pellissery, Ratheena, and Kamal KM.

Mammootty won the Best Actor award for Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam and Vincy Aloshious the Best Actress award for Rekha. Lijo Joseph Pellissery won the Best Director award for Ariyippu. The award for Best Film was given to the highest grossing movie of the year from a list of 154 films. In a close race, Mammootty won the award for Best Actor for the film. The award for Best Actress for the movie Rekha was won by Vincy Aloshious.

While Kamal KM won the award for Best Writer for the film Pada, Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval won the award for Best Screenplay (Original) for the film Nna Thaan Case Kodu, and Rajesh Pinnadan bagged the award for Best Screenplay (Adaptation) for the film Oru Thekkan Thallu Case.