National Awards Jury Member Clarifies 'No Mammootty Films Were Submitted': Loss For Malayalam Cinema

National Awards: Ahead of the 70th National Film Awards, fans of Mammootty were expecting the actor to bag top honours. However, the Best Actor award was won by Rishab Shetty for his role in Kantara while the Malayalam film Aattam bagged the prize for Best Feature Film. A jury member from the awards has now addressed rumours and clarified that none of Mammootty's films were submitted for the selection this year.

National Award jury member clarifies why Mammootty was never a frontrunner for top honours

In an interview with Manorama Online, National Award jury member MB Padmakumar clarified that Mammootty starrer Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakka (2022) could have been a strong contender at the event. However, he clarified that director Lijo Jose Pellissery and the filmmakers did not submit the film for selection. He emphasised that the film would especially get an honour for Mammootty's performance.

He shared, “The truth is that not a single film starring Mammootty was submitted for consideration this year.” Further addressing the controversy that the star was side-lined at the awards, he added, that people are quick to blame the government, but the fact is that Mammootty’s films were simply not submitted. We need to ask who made this decision.”  He added,“The failure to submit such a remarkable film for consideration is a significant mistake. This was not just a loss for Mammootty, but for Malayalam cinema as well.”

Who won what at the 70th National Film Awards?

At the 70th National Film Awards 2024, Rishabh Shetty won Best Actor for his role in the Kannada film Kantara. Nithya Menen and Manasi Parekh shared the Best Actress award for their performances in Thiruchitrambalam and Kutch Express respectively. The Malayalam suspense drama Aattam, written and directed by Anand Ekarshi, received awards in three categories: Best Film, Best Editing, and Best Screenplay.

Sooraj Barjatya was named Best Director for the film Uunchai, starring Amitabh Bachchan. Manoj Bajpayee earned a Special Mention for his work in Gulmohar, which was also awarded Best Hindi Film.