The awards instituted by Sreekrishna Natya Sangeetha Academy, a cultural organisation based in Varkala, was announced in the city on Thursday.
Carnatic vocalist K Omanakutty was selected for the M S Subbulakshmi award. The award comprises a cash award of Rs 10001, statuette and scroll of honour.
Actor Manoj K Jayan was selected for the Sreekrishna Chalachitra Prathibha Puraskaram. He was selected for his performance in the Malayalam movie ‘Ardhanari’ in which he portrayed the role of a hijra. The award comprises Rs 25001, statuette and scroll of honour. Playback singer, M G Sreekumar, producer of the movie and will be honoured with a special award.
The O Madhavan award was bagged by theatre artist Cochin Ammini. She had appeared in more than 7000 stages performing various roles, acted in around 10 movies and is also a dubbing artist. The award comprises Rs 5001, statuette and scroll of honour.
The R Prakasam memorial endowment award instituted in the memory of R Prakasam MLA, former director of the Academy, went to M Jayaraj, director of Agency for Non-Conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT). His contributions towards solving power shortage problem through solar energy fetched him the award comprising Rs 5001, statuette and scroll of honour.
The award winners were chosen by a jury comprising M Jayaprakash, Kottavattam Shyamnath, M K Nathan, Vijayakumari and Aji Varkala.
Awards will be given away at a function to be held at Varkala Municipal Town Hall on May 19 at 5.30 pm by Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development (HRD) Shashi Tharoor. Playback singer Biju Narayanan will be honoured with a special award. Maneesh, a member of Indian blind cricket team, will also be honoured. Cultural Affairs Minister K C Joseph will preside over. Varkala Kahar MLA and Jameela Prakasam MLA will also be present.