Children's films twice overlooked at State Awards: Quality issues or jury flaws?

The decision to exclude the Best Children’s Film and Child Artist awards from this year’s Kerala State Film Awards has sparked controversy, with many questioning the jury's omission. Films such as ‘Ee Bandham Supera,’ ‘Iru Niram,’ ‘The Life of Mangrove,’ and ‘School Chale Hum’ were among those submitted in the Children’s Film category, but none of them were considered deserving for the awards. While 'Sthanarthi Sreekuttan' was not officially censored as a children's movie, it was submitted for the State Awards due to its powerful message on issues affecting children in school. Interestingly, the majority of the film's cast consisted of child actors.

Several filmmakers and actors have spoken out against the jury’s decision to dismiss the Children’s award for the second consecutive year, arguing that the above movies conveyed important messages. Producer Sandip Senan, who is also the vice-president of the Kerala Film Producers’ Association stated, “It’s unfair to dismiss a film from the category just because it hasn’t been censored as a children’s movie. The jury’s decision seems completely subjective. The absence of a Children’s award doesn’t mean the films in this category lack merit. If the jury can bend the rules for prominent awards—such as giving Lijomol the Character Artist award for her role in 'Nadanna Sambhavam' when she was clearly the heroine in the movie or even the time when Fahad Faasil was awarded the Best Supporting Actor award for Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum—then why not consider films with child actors that deliver strong messages, even if they haven’t been classified as children’s films?"

‘Sthanarthi Sreekuttan' actor Anoop Manmadhan and director Vinesh Viswanath also discussed the challenges of marketing children’s films, which is why producers opt not to censor it as a children’s movie. “These days, marketing a film for the OTT space is not easy, despite having huge stars. So imagine the fate of children’s films,” said Vinesh. “That’s why producers are often reluctant to seek children’s film certification. If the argument is that 'Sthanarthi Sreekuttan' didn’t qualify for the award because it wasn’t censored as a children’s movie, we can look at examples like 'Kakkamuttai' and 'Manu Uncle,' which weren’t censored as children’s films but still went on to win National Awards. These rules aren't hard and fast, but are often bent for bigger names."

However, producer Sajid Yahiya, whose film ‘Palotty 90s Kids’ won three State Awards, disagreed with this argument. He emphasised that filmmakers should be mindful of how they market their work. “I understand the risks involved in producing a children’s film. It’s not easy to secure an OTT platform for such movies because not everyone shares the same vision. But as filmmakers, we need to be clear about our intentions. If your primary audience is children, your film should be marketed as such," he said.

Sajid also reflected on the importance of quality in children's cinema, acknowledging that many assume making a children's film is easy and inexpensive. “Some filmmakers try to make a children's movie on a modest budget of Rs 20–30 lakh, but my film was made with a budget of Rs 2.6 crore. We used dual cameras to ensure continuity for child actors and gave them a month of training before shooting, with children attending sessions along with their parents in Palakkad. We also brought in prominent technicians, such as Banglan and Praveen Varma, who have worked on big-budget projects."

The question remains: Is this the reason the jury overlooked the children's category last year as well? Are we really facing a shortage of high-quality children's films in the state? Or was it oversight by the jury? But Prakash Raj’s argument that children are not being given space in Malayalam cinema needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, since child artists in films like ‘Kishkindha Kandham’, ‘ARM’, among others delivered exceptional performances, and deserved some sort of recognition.