Mammootty, Shamla Hamza, Manjummel Boys Bag Kerala State Film Awards

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Malayalam superstar Mammootty bagged this year's Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Kodumon Potty in the movie "Bramayugam," while "Manjummel Boys" dominated the event, winning in 10 categories. The Best Director title was awarded to Chidambaram for his work on "Manjummel Boys."

Shamla Hamza earned the Best Actress award for her role in "Feminichi Fathima."

Darshana and Jyothirmayi received special jury mentions for their performances in "Paradise" and "Bougainvillea," respectively. Asif Ali and Tovino Thomas, who were also contenders for the Best Actor award, were given special jury recognition for their roles.

Zeba Tommy won Best Playback Singer (Female) for her song in "Am Aah," while K. S. Harishankar clinched Best Playback Singer (Male) for his song in "ARM."

After the announcement of awards, Mammootty told mediapersons, "A big congratulations to all my co-actors who also received this year's awards. And to those who didn't receive an award this year, there's always next time. Awards are a journey, not a competition," he said, expressing gratitude and thanking everyone for their support.

Criticising the National Film Awards, actor and filmmaker Prakash Raj, who chaired the jury for the Kerala State Awards, said, "They don’t deserve Mammookka (Mammootty). Even though he is competing with youngsters, we don’t look at it as senior men versus youngsters. The presence of Mammookka in Bramayugam, the nuances he carried just with his presence, was very strong. The youngsters will have to achieve that level of expression.

"Despite that, when you see Tovino in ARM or Asif Ali, whose four films we have seen, there is this essence of young actors trying to excel—and that is the great influence of actors like Mammookka and Lalettan," he said.

"I don’t mind saying that the National Film Awards are compromised. I am so happy to be the jury chairman in Kerala. When they called me, they said they needed someone from outside who is experienced and won’t interfere in the decision-making. However, this is not something that happens in the National Film Awards. We see files and piles getting awards. We know that such juries and such a government don’t deserve Mammookka," he said.

List of awards

Best Film - Manjummel Boys

Best Actress – Shamla Hamza, Feminichi Fathima

Best Actor – Mammootty, Bramayugam

Best Director – Chidambaram S Poduval, Manjummel Boys

Best Character Artist (F) – Lijomol Jose, Nadanna Sambhavam

Best Character Artist (M) – Soubin Shahir (Manjummel Boys) and Sidharth Bharathan (Bramayugam)

Special Jury Award – Asif Ali, Tovino Thomas, Darshana Rajendran, Jyothirmayi, Paradise

Best Second Film – Feminichi Fathima

Best Debut Director – Fasil Muhammed, Feminichi Fathima

Best Popular Film – Premalu

Best Screenwriter – Prasanna Vithanage, Paradise

Best Original Screenplay – Chidambaram S Poduval, Manjummel Boys

Best Adapted Screenplay – Lajo Jose and Amal Neerad, Bougainvillea

Best Music Director – Sushin Shyam, Bougainvillea

Best Background Score – Christo Xavier, Bramayugam

Best Lyricist – Vedan for “Kuthanthram” from Manjummel Boys

Best Playback Singer (F) – Zeba Tommy for “Aarorum” in Am Ah

Best Playback Singer (M) – KS Harisankar for “Kiliye” in ARM

Best Editor – Sooraj ES, Kishkindha Kaandam

Best Cinematography – Shyju Khalid, Manjummel Boys

Best Production Design – Ajayan Chalissery, Manjummel Boys

Best VFX – Jithin Laal, Albert Thomas, Anuradha Mukherjee and Salim Lahir, ARM

Best Choreography – Sumesh Sunder and Jishnudas MV, Bougainvillea

Best Costume – Sameera Saneesh, Rekhachithram and Bougainvillea

Best Makeup Artist – Ronex Xavier, Bougainvillea and Bramayugam

Best processing lab/colorist – Srik Varier, Manjummel Boys, Bougainvillea

Best Sync Sound – Ajayan Adat, Pani