49th Kerala State Film Awards: Jayasurya, Soubin Shahir, Nimisha Sajayan are best actors; Kanthan - The Lover of Color is best film

Young actors Jayasurya and Soubin Shahir, who have experimented with divergent genre of roles in commercial and realistic movies, Wednesday shared the best actor award at the 49th Kerala State Film Awards.

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Nimisha Sajayan won the best actress award.

Shareef C-directed 'Kanthan-the lover of colour', which depicted the struggles of marginalised tribals, was adjudged the 'best feature film.' 

Eminent director Shyamaprasad won the 'best director' award for his film 'Oru Njayarazhcha', which was also selected as the second 'best feature film'.

'Sudani From Nigeria', helmed by Zakariya Muhammed, a realistic movie which had also been a commercial success, won five titles in various categories including 'the best popular film', the 'debutant director' and the 'screenplay'.

State Cultural Affairs Minister A K Balan announced the annual awards in Thiruvananthapuram during a press meet.

Jayasurya won his first state award for his exceptional performances in the movies 'Captain' and 'Njan Marykutty' in which he enacted the life of a transexual.

Soubin bagged it for enacting the role of a local football manager in 'Sudani From Nigeria.'

Nimisha was adjudged best actress for her performances in 'Oru Kuprasidha Payyan' and 'Chola.' 

The jury, headed by filmmaker Kumar Shahani, selected Jojo George as the 'best character actor'.

The 'best character actresses' title was shared by Savithri Sreedharan and Sarasa Balusseri.

Vijay Yesudas and Shreya Ghoshal were selected as best playback singers for their melodious numbers in the movies 'Joseph' and 'Aami' respectively.

Vishal Bharadwaj won the 'best music director' award, while BK Harinarayanan bagged it for the 'best lyricist.' 

'Carbon' directed by Venu emerged as the big winner in the state awards this year with six titles-most of them in technical categories.

A total of 104 films were considered for the awards, of which 20 films were shortlisted in the final round by the jury, the minister said.

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Here's the full list:

Best Film – Kanthan: The Lover of Color

Second Best Film – Oru Njayarazhcha

Best Actor – Jayasurya (Captain and Njan Marykutty) and Soubin Shahir (Sudani from Nigeria)

Best Actress – Nimisha Sajayan, Chola and Oru Kuprasidha Payyan

Best Director – Shyamaprasad, Oru Njayarazhcha

Best Character Actor – Joju George, Chola and Joseph

Best Character Actress – Savithra Sreedharan and Sarasa Balussery, Sudani from Nigeria

Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value – Sudani from Nigeria

Best Debut Director – Zakariya Mohammed, Sudani from Nigeria

Best Child Artist – Male – Master Rithun, Appuvinte Sathyanweshanam

Best Child Artist – Female – Abani Adi, Panth

Best Story – Joy Mathew, Uncle

Best Male Singer – Vijay Yesudas, Poomuthole from Joseph

Best Female Singer – Shreya Ghoshal, Neer Maathalam from Aami

Best Music Director – Vishal Bharadwaj, Carbon

Best Music Director (score) – Bijibal, Aami

Best Lyrics – Hari Narayanan, Joseph and Theevandi

Best Cinematography – KU Mohanan, Carbon

Best Makeup Artist – Ronex Xavier, Njan Marykutty

Best Sound Mixing – Sinoy Joseph, Carbon

Best Sound Design – Jayadevan C, Carbon

Best Editor – Aravind Manmadan

Best Costume Designer – Sameera Saneesh, Kammarasambhavam

Best Dubbing Artist – Female – Sneha M, Lilli

Best Dubbing Artist – Male – Shammy Thilakan, Odiyan

Special Jury award – Madhu Ambat

Special Jury mention – Santhosh Mandoor (Pani), Sanal Kumar Sasidharan (Chola) and KPAC Leela (Roudram)