State Film Awards jury chairman and actor-director Bhagyaraj said that it was a difficult task to zero in on a particular film or artiste as majority of films maintained a good quality.
“There were many films with both quality and commercial value,” he pointed out. 41 feature films, one short films and five documentaries were submitted for the awards.
He said that Dileep was adjudged best actor over Mohanlal as his character in ‘Vellaripravinte Changathi’ provided the actor enough scope for performance. “The character passes through various periods and getups,” he said. He also mentioned that Blessy’s ‘Pranayam’ was a finely conceived film, the major reason for selecting him as the best director. He added that ‘Indian Rupee’ banked on a good script and the movie conveyed a good message. “Akashathinte Niram’ is a film that has been shot in a single location with minimum characters and limited dialogues. The film also has a valuable message,” he said about Dr Biju’s film which bagged the special jury award. Minister K B Ganesh Kumar said that the announcement was delayed owing to the new criteria based on which the films were selected. “Malayalam cinema has come out of its monotony and slope in quality. Another factor that gives me immense pleasure as an someone belonging to the industry is the acknowledgment given to the new trends,” he said after announcing the awards.