NEW DELHI: Malayalam film ‘Adaminte Makan Abu’, a simple yet evocative narrative of a man’s pursuit of religion, was adjudged the best feature film and its star Salim Kumar shared the best actor honour with Tamil star Dhanush in a clean sweep for southern cinema at the 58th National Film Awards.
Bollywood was pushed to the background this year. ‘Dabangg’ starring Salman Khan got the national award for best wholesome entertainment and Rishi Kapoor- Neetu Singh’s family drama ‘Do Dooni Chaar’ was named best Hindi feature film. Vishal Bhardwaj’s rural drama Ishqiya won four awards.
Malayalam films got six national awards and ‘Adaminte Makan Abu’ topped the list. It was named best feature film, Salim Kumar got the best actor award, Madhu Ambat picked up the best cinematography trophy and Issac Thomas Kottakapally got the best music director award. Sukumari won the best supporting actress award for ‘Namma Gramam’ and J Thambi Ramaiah was named best supporting actor for ‘Mynaa’, while best costume designer award went to Indrans Jayan for ‘Namma Gramam’.
Sound designer Subhadeep Sengupta won the best audiography award for Malayalam film 'Chitrasutram', while ‘Veettilekkulla Vazhil’ was named the best Malayalam movie. In the best actor category, Dhanush, who starred in
‘Aadukalam’ -- a Tamil film that looks at the world of cock-fighting -- shared the award with Salim Kumar.
“Being mostly seen as a comedian, I approached the role very seriously with lot of preparation,” a beaming Salim Kumar said on getting the good news. The best actress award too had two winners – Tamil actress Saranya Ponvannan for ‘Thenmerkku Paruvakkatru’ and Marathi artiste Mitalee Jagtap Varadkar for ‘Baboo Band Baaja’. ‘Adaminte Makan Abu’, directed and produced by Salim Ahamed, won the Swarna Kamal and a cash prize of Rs 2,50,000 for its “simple yet evocative articulation of humanist values”.
Announcing the awards at a news conference, jury head filmmaker J P Dutta said the best direction award went to Vetrimaran for ‘Aadukalam’. In the non-feature film category, Hindi movie 'Germ' directed by Snehal R Nair was the best non-feature. Documentary ‘A Pestering Journey’ on endosulfan victims (Malayalam, Punjabi, Hindi, English and Tulu) directed by K R Manoj and produced by Ranjini Krishnan won the best investigative film award.
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