54th Kerala State Film Awards

Aadujeevitham, based on a real-life saga of human resilience in the face of unimaginable suffering, garnered nine awards including the top honours of Best Director for Blessy and Best Actor for Prithviraj Sukumaran at the 54th Kerala State Film Awards.

Kaathal – The Core, Jeo Baby’s sensitive take on homosexuality, won the award for the Best Film as well as Best Story.

Urvashi, who subtly portrayed the inner turmoil of a woman in dealing with unforeseen circumstances after her son’s death in Ullozhukku, shared the acting honours with Beena R. Chandran, for her performance as a woman who goes through a series of unfortunate events in Fazil Razak’s Thadavu. Razak also won the award for the best debutant director.

The other awards won by Aadujeevitham include Best Popular Film, Best Adapted Screenplay for Blessy, Best Cinematography for K.S. Sunil, Special Jury Award (actor) for K.R. Gokul, Best Sound Mixing award for Resul Pookutty and Sarath Mohan, Best Makeup Artist for Ranjith Ambady, and Best processing lab/colourist for Vaishal Shiva Ganesh.

The best Malayalam films of 2023: ‘Kaathal’ and ‘RDX’ to ‘O.Baby’ and ‘Romancham’

Rohith M.G. Krishnan won the Best Original Screenplay Award for Iratta, a gut-wrenching tale of a pair of twins whose lives take starkly different turns. Iratta, directed by Rohith, also won the award for the Best Second Film. Jayadevan Chakkadath and Anil Radhakrishnan won the Best Sound Design Award for Ullozhukku.Jude Anthany Joseph’s 2018 won the award for Best Visual Effects for Andrew D Cruz and Vishak Babu, as well as Best Art Direction for Mohandas. Sangeeth Prathap won the Best Editing Award for Little Miss Rawther.

Justine Varghese won the Best Music Award for Chaaver, while Mathews Pulickan won the Best Background Music Award for his work in Kaathal – The Core. Veteran music director Vidhyadharan Master won the Best Playback Singer Award for ‘Pathiranennorthoru Kanavil’ from Jananam 1947 Pranayam Thudarunnu, while Ann Amie won the same for the song ‘Thinkalppoovin Ithalival’ from Pachuvum Albuthavilakkum.

Sudhi Kozhikode won the Special Jury (actor) Award for his performance in Kaithal, while Krishnan won the same for his performance in Jaivam. Shalini Ushadevi, director of Ennennum, won the Special Jury Award for women/transgender people.

The awards were decided by a jury headed by filmmaker Sudhir Mishra and consisting of Alagappan N, Lijo Jose Pellissery, Sreevalsan J Menon, Priyanandan TR, C Ajoy, NS Madhavan, Ann Augustine.

A total of 160 films were submitted for the awards, making it the highest-ever number of submissions in the history of the awards. From these, a preliminary jury shortlisted 35 films, while the final jury recalled three more films which were earlier rejected.

As many as 22 of the final 38 films were made by debutants. Though there for four submissions in the children’s film category, no awards were given as none were found to be good enough for awards. Minister for Cultural Affairs Saji Cherian announced the awards here on Friday in the presence of the jury members.

Here’s the full list of winners:

Best Film – Kaathal: The Core (Director: Jeo Baby )

Best Actor (Male) – Prithviraj Sukumaran (Aadujeevitham)

Best Actor (Female) – Urvashi (Ullozhukku), Beena R. Chandran (Thadavu)

Best Director – Blessy (Aadujeevitham)

Second Best Film – Iratta (Director: Rohith M.G.Krishnan)

Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value – Aadujeevitham (Dir- Blessy)

Best Character Actor (Male) – Vijayaraghavan (Pookkalam)

Best Character Actor (Female) – Sreeshma Chandran (Pombalai Orumai)

Best Debut Director – Fazil Razak (Thadavu)

Best Story – Adarsh Sukumaran (Kaathal:The Core)

Best Composer – Justin Varghese (Chaver)

Best Background Music – Mathews Pulickan (Kaathal:The Core)

Best Playback Singer (Male) – Vidyadharan Master (”Pathiranennorthoru anavil” from Jananam 1947 Pranayam Thudarunnu)

Best Playback Singer (Female) – Ann Amie (“Thinkalpoovin Ithalaval” from Pachuvum Athbhutha Vilakkum)

Best Lyrics – Hareesh Mohanan (”Chenthamara Poovin” from Chaver)

Best Editor – Sangeeth Prathap (Little Miss Rawther)

Best Screenplay (Original) – Rohith M.G.Krishnan (Iratta)

Best Screenplay (Adapted) — Blessy (Aadujeevitham)

Best Cinematography – K.S Sunil (Aadujeevitham)

Best Children’s Film – No entry worthy of award

Best Child Actor (Male) – Avyukth Menon (Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum)

Best Child Actor (Female) – Thennal Abhilash (Shesham Mikeil Fathima)

Best Art Direction – Mohandas (2018)

Best Sync Sound – Shameer Ahmed (O.Baby)

Best Sound Mixing – Resul Pookkutty and Sarath Mohan (Aadujeevitham)

Best Sound Designing – Jayadevan Chakkadath and Anil Radhakrishnan (Ullozhukku)

Best Dubbing Artiste (Male) – Roshan Mathew (Ullozhukku for the character Rajeev, Valatty for Tomy, the dog)

Best Dubbing Artiste (Female) – Sumangala (Jananam 1947 Pranayam Thudarunnu for Gouri Teacher)

Best Choreography – Jishnu (Sulaikha Manzil)

Best Makeup – Ranjith Ambady (Aadujeevitham)

Best Costume – Femina Jabbar (O Baby)

Best VFX – Anrew D Cruz, Vishakh Babu (2018)

Best Processing Lab/Colourist – Vaisakh Siva Ganesh (Aadujeevitham)

Special award for transpersons or women for any category – Shalini Usha Devi (Ennennum)

Jury Mention (Film) – Gaganachari (Director – Arun Chandu)

Jury Mention (Actor) – Krishnan (Jaivam), K.R. Gokul (Aadujeevitham), Sudhi Kozhikode (Kaathal: The Core)

Best Book on Cinema – Mazhavil Kanniloode Malayala Cinema by Kishore Kumar

Special Jury Award for Book on Cinema – Kaamanakalude Samskarika Sandarbhangal by P. Premachandran

Best Article on Cinema – Desheeyathaye Azhichedukkunna Cinemakal by M.R.Rajesh

Special Jury Award for Article of Cinema – Film Society Prasthanam Keralathil: Charithravum Rashtreeyavum by K.R.Anoop