For someone who is just four films old, Anna Ben is already counted among the most promising young actors of this generation. The Special Mention at the Kerala State Film Awards for Helen last year and the Best Actor award this year for Kappela only helps in cementing that impression.
She announced her arrival with the role of an easy-going, but assertive, Baby in Madhu C. Narayanan’s Kumbalangi Nights . Though the film had a star cast of performers, she more than managed to get noticed. Her second film, the survival thriller Helen, not only challenged her acting skills but her physical endurance too, with the story of a part-timer at a restaurant getting trapped inside a meat freezer.
In Kappela , Anna plays Jessy, an academically weak girl living in an orthodox, lower middle class family, in a high range village with hardly anything to look forward to. The emotions she was required to portray here as a vulnerable young woman were in contrast to that required of her in Kumbalangi Nights . Speaking of her performance, jury chairperson Suhasini said she effectively portrayed the transformation in losing her innocence and coming to terms with the reality.
Anna Ben has proved to be adept at choosing varied roles that can challenge the actor in her, In her fourth film Sara’s , she played a woman who wishes to remain child-free. Her assured performance went a long way in propping up the film even in places where it was let down by the writing.
For, Jayasurya, this is the second Best Actor award within three years. While he won the previous award for the role of footballer V.P. Sathyan in Captain in 2018, this time, it is the role of a drunkard in Vellam , portraying effectively the sheer helplessness of someone wanting to get over addiction. Jayasurya gave it his all as the man who cannot imagine life without alcohol, even crawling on the floor and licking drops of spilt spirit. Even the movie, which does not otherwise spring much surprises, was saved by his earnest performance.
