A 62-year-old woman from a tribal community making her debut as a playback singer, a director who died a few weeks after delivering his biggest hit and an actor who is finally beginning to get the recognition he deserves.
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They all have something in common, Ayyappanum Koshiyum, the film that emerged as very much the surprise package of the 68th National Film Awards, which were announced in Delhi on Friday. The taut thriller was the last big hit in Malayalam cinema before COVID-19 shut the cinemas down in 2020.
Ayyappanum Koshiyum won four awards – best director (Sachy), best supporting actor (Biju Menon), best female playback singer (Nanjiyamma) and best stunt choreographer (Mafia Sasi, Rajasekhar and Supreme Sundar).
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There was another big reason to cheer about for Malayalam cinema. Though Aparna Balamurali won the award for the best female actor for a Tamil film (Soorarai Pottru), the Thrissur native has done most of her works in Malayalam cinema.
She is not the first Malayali actor to win the national award for a film in another language. Three years ago, Keerthy Suresh had won it for the Telugu film Mahanati and before that Shobana for Mitr, My Friend (English) and Shoba for Pasi (Tamil).
In the feature film section, there were more awards for Malayalam cinema besides the four won by Ayyappanum Koshiyum. Kappela fetched Anees Nadodi the award for the best production designer, while Vishnu Govind and Sree Sankar won the award for re-recording for their work in Malik.
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Kavya Prakash earned a special mention as the director of Vaanku, her debut film. Her father V.K. Prakash’s maiden feature Punaradhivasam (2000) had won the National Award for the best Malayalam film.
The award for this year’s best Malayalam film went to Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam, the delectable rustic comedy directed by Senna Hegde. In the non-features category, there were awards for Nikhil S. Praveen (cinematography for Shabdikkunna Kalappa) and Nandan (education film for Dreaming of Words). MT Anubhavangalude Pusthakam earned a special mention for the best writing in cinema for Anoop Ramakrishnan, who, like Sachy, will not be able to receive the award as he passed away last December.
This edition of the awards has proved among the most rewarding ones for Malayalam cinema in recent times.
CM hails winners
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has congratulated the winners of the awards. In a tweet, he said: “Congratulations to all artistes who have won awards at the 68th National Film Awards. Malayalam cinema has again proved its mettle by bagging many prestigious awards, including the best director and female actor. Hope this will inspire them to conquer new greater heights.”