Akale bags six State awards

The Malayalam feature film Akale, directed by Shyamaprasad, has bagged six awards including those for the best film and the best director in the Kerala State Film Awards 2004.

The awards were announced by Cultural Affairs Minister A P Anilkumar in the presence of jury members at a news conference here on Saturday.

While Shyamaprasad was adjudged the best director for the film Akale, the best actor award went to Mammootty for his performance in the film Kazhcha. The award for the best actress was shared by Geethu Mohandas (Akale, Oridam) and Kavya Madhavan (Perumazhakkalam).

The producer and director of the best film will get Rs 1 lakh and Rs 40,000 respectively along with a statuette and a citation. The producer and the director of the second best film will get Rs 60,000 and Rs 30,000 each along with a statuette and a citation.

Kathavaseshan, directed by T V Chandran, was adjudged the second best film and Blessy, who directed Kazhcha was chosen the best debut director.

T V Chandran also won the award for the best screenplay for Kathavaseshan. The award for the film with artistic brilliance and popular appeal went to Kazhcha.

Lalu Alex got the second best actor award for his role in Manjupolorupenkutty and Sheela got the award for the second best actress for her performance in Akale. S Kumar became the best cinematographer for the camera for Akale. Pradeep Nair, who directed the film Oridam, got a special mention by the jury. Akale, based on Tennessee Williams� renowned play The Glass Menagerie, was a moving presentation of the conflict between dreams and reality. The movie is noted for its technical brilliance as well, jury chairman Sreekumaran Thampy said.

G Venugopal was chosen the best male playback singer (Ullam) and Manjari was adjudged the best female playback singer for her song in Makalkku.

Gireesh Puthenchery bagged the award for the best lyricist and M Jayachandran emerged the best music director. Issac Thomas Kottukappilly bagged the award for the best background score in Sancharam and Oridam. T A Razak won the award for the best story (Perumazhakkalam).

Other winners are: Editing: Antony (4, the People), Sound recording: N Harikumar (Perumazhakkalam), Processing: Chitranjali (Oridam), Make-up: Ranjit Ambadi (Makalkku), Costumes: Kumar Edappal (Oridam), Dubbing artiste: Meera Krishnan (Manjupoloru Penkutty), Documentary: M A Rahman (Kovilan Ente Achachan). Liji J Pullappally, who directed Sancharam, got the special jury mention along with actors Mamukoya and Kunchakko Boban for their roles in Perumazhakkalam and Ee Snehatheerathu respectively.

Cinema Anubhavam by Adoor Gopalakrishnan was chosen for the award for the best book on film. C S Venkateswaran got the award for the best article on film. The jury, which selected the best literature on films, was chaired by K Jayakumar.

The jury, in its report, said seven of the 24 films that came before it were excellent and recommended that the subsidy for such films be doubled. The films should also be screened in the forthcoming International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), jury chairman Sreekumaran Thampy said.

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