Anna Ben, Jayasurya and others receive 51st Kerala State Film Awards

Thiruvananthapuram: The 51st Kerala State Flm Awards were presented at a ceremony here at Nishagandhi auditorium on Monday.

CM Pinarayi Vijayan handed over 48 awards, including those for best actors Jayasurya and Anna Ben, and director Sidhartha Siva and Jeo Baby, the director of the Best Film.

Minister for Cultural Affairs Saji Cherian presided over the function.

Actress and jury chairman Suhasini Maniratnam was also present at the event.

Siji Sachy, wife of director Sachy, who passed away last year, received the award for the Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value for Ayyappanum Koshiyum on his behalf.

Sixty-year-old Nanjamma, who rendered a song in Sachy's film was also given a special award.

Congratulating the winners, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan applauded the jury for choosing films with a pro-women stance for this year’s awards.

“Cinema is a medium which has the most influence on the public. It is notable that both the films that won the awards for the best film and the second best film uphold a pro-women stance and advocate women’s right for self-determination.

"The Great Indian Kitchen exposes how patriarchy works silently within families without any overt act of violence. Democracy is not just a political system, but it is something that needs to be implemented within families too. The jury, by choosing these films, was thus able to capture the transformation happening in Malayalam cinema,” he said.

Though every industry was affected by the Covid  Mollywood brought out their best even amid the pandemic, said the CM.

About 100 films were censored in year 2020, out of which 80 films were submitted for the awards.

Among them, 38 films were made by debutant directors.