PremiumKerala State Film Awards 2023: Possible winners, surprises, jury, where to watch and all you need to know
While Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam and Nna Thaan Case Kodu lead the race, these films could also throw up surprises
Last Updated: 04.14 PM, Jul 21, 2023
The 53rd Kerala State Film Awards are set to be announced by the Minister of Culture, Saji Cheriyan, on July 21 in Thiruvananthapuram and unlike the previous years, superstar-driven films such as Mammootty’s Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam and Kunchacko Boban’s Nna Thaan Case Kodu are some of the strongest contenders for the major categories.
Also read: Kerala State Film Awards 2023: Mammootty, Vincy Aloshious and Nna Thaan Case Kodu win big, here's the complete list of winners
The award will be announced during a press conference at the PR Chamber in Thiruvananthapuram. Though the award was initially set to be announced on July 19, the government had deferred the event to Friday July 21 due to the demise of former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Tuesday. Here’s all you need to know about this year’s Kerala State Film Awards – from its frontrunners, jury members to where you can stream the event live.
An ‘award-winning’ jury panel
This year saw a record number of 154 films competing for the awards. The jury is headed by Bengali filmmaker and actor Goutam Ghose, who himself has 17 National Film Awards to his credit. The preliminary screenings, which began from June 19, were viewed by two sub-committees headed by art director Nemom Pushparaj and director KM Madhusoodanan.
Apart from the trio, the final jury also consists of actress Gauthami, cameraman Hari Nair, singer Jency Gregory and sound designer D Yuvaraj.
A stellar list of nominees
While the jury is yet to announce the total number of categories this year, the prominent awards such as Best Film, Best Actor (Male and Female) and Best Director have a long list of deserving nominees that includes actors such as Mammootty, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Kunchacko Boban, Alencier Ley Lopez, Darshana Rajendran, Bindu Panicker, Indrans as well as filmmakers such as Vipin Das, Mahesh Narayanan, Lijo Jose Pellissery, Ratheena, Ratheesh Balakrishna Poduval, Shahi Kabir and Kamal KM.
Frontrunners for this year’s Kerala State Film Awards
In the past decade, Malayalam megastar Mammootty’s name has done the rounds for Best Actor several times. But this year seems to be his best bet yet.
The actor, who has won seven State Awards including five for Best Actor, had last bagged the honour for Paleri Manikyam in 2009. For this year, the jury will be spoilt for choice – as his performances in Ratheena’s Puzhu, Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam and Nissam Basheer’s Rorschach are being considered.
Giving him tough competition is Kunchacko Boban, who too had a stellar year with a great balance of commercial as well as films with artistic value. Kunchacko’s claim for awards stems from his performances in Mahesh’s Ariyippu, Ratheesh’s Nna Thaan Case Kodu and Kamal’s Pada. Prithviraj Sukumaran was also reportedly in the race for his tour-de-force performance as an IPS officer-turned-lawyer in Jana Gana Mana. Tovino Thomas' Thallumaala could also bag most of the technical awards this year.
In the past too, the jury has surprised the majority by not going for a mainstream actor. Indrans, for his performance in Udal, and Alencier, for his role in Appan, are the other two candidates for the Best Actor award.
For the Best Actress award, Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey and Purusha Pretham fame Darshana Rajendran is the front-runner to clinch the award. Basil Joseph, who was also part of Palthu Janwar and Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey, could also bag the award for Second Best Actor while Vipin Das’ directorial could win Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value. This would mark the second consecutive Darshana-starrer to win the award as Hridayam had bagged the honour last year.
Meanwhile, the race for the Best Director has some great names including Lijo, Mahesh and Ratheesh. Shahi Kabir and Ratheena are in the race for the Best Debut Director too. Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam is the front-runner for the Best Film, along with Nna Thaan Case Kodu.
Surprise contenders
While some of the earlier mentioned movies are front-runners, Maju’s Appan, Shahi’s Ela Veezha Poonchira and Tharun Moorthy’s Saudi Vellakka are also among the films that could throw up some surprises in terms of the technical as well as acting categories. Devi Varma's role in Saudi Vellakka and Bindu Panicker's in Rorschach could also be considered for a major award category.
Where to watch Kerala State Film Awards 2023 online?
Apart from being telecast live on all Malayalam news channels, viewers will also be able to stream the Kerala Film State Awards announcement on the social media pages of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy as well as the official Facebook page of minister Saji Cherian.