Out of the 84 films that were in the hunt for the 30 State Film Awards, only 14 could achieve the distinction this time.
‘Celluloid’ and ‘Ayalum Njanum Thammil’, both with Prithviraj in the lead, swooped 12 awards. ‘Celluloid’ emerged the top dog, with eight awards, including two special mentions. ‘Ayalum Njanum Thammil’, along with ‘Ozhimuri’, cornered four awards.
‘Annayum Rasoolum’ bagged three awards in the technical section. ‘Kaliyachan’, of debut director Farooq Abdul Khader, bagged three. ‘Manjadikkuru’, ‘Spirit’ and ‘Nidra’ pocketed two each. ‘Chayilyam’, ‘Mayamohini’, ‘22 Female Kottayam’ and ‘101 Chodyangal’ are the other flicks that managed to stake a claim to the podium.
There were no awards given under the best children’s film, lab, choreography and male dubbing artist categories. However, an award for the best colourist was instituted for the first time. When the State Film Awards were introduced in 1969, awards were given only under 15 categories.