Rich haul for Malayalam cinema at 67th National Film Awards

Malayalam cinema had a rich haul at the 67th National Film Awards announced on Monday, scooping up eleven awards including the award for the best film and the best debut film.

Marakkar:Arabbikkadalinte Simham, Priyadarshan’s film on the life of naval chieftain Kunjali Marakkar starring Mohanlal, won the award for the best film. Mathukutty Xavier won the award for the best debut director for the survival thriller Helen on the travails of a young woman who gets caught inside a freezer room.

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Sajin Baabu got a special mention for the film Biriyani, which portrays the valiant fightback from a woman hemmed in from all sides by religion, society and circumstances. It was in the technical categories that Malayalam cinema had quite a sweep. Siddharth Priyadarshan won the award for best special effects for Marakkar, while Sujith Sudhakaran and V.Sai got the award for the best costume for the same film.

Gireesh Gangadharan won the award for best cinematography for the film Jallikkattu, for the powerful visuals capturing the night-time hunt for a buffalo that ran amock. Ranjith won the award for best makeup for Helen. Prabha Varma won the award for the best lyrics for the song Aarodum Parayuka Vayya from the film Kolambi. Kalla Nottam won Rahul Riji Nair the award for best Malayalam film, for its inventive theme of the world seen through the eyes of two boys who steal a surveillance camera from the neighbourhood store with unforeseen consequences.

In the non-feature film category, Sharan Venugopal’s Oru Pathira Swapnam Pole won the award for the best film on family values. Vipin Vijay’s Small Scale Societies won the special jury mention in the non-feaure film category.

The National Awards for the year 2019 which was supposed to be announced last year, was postponed due to the outbreak of COVID-19 last year.