The adjudication process of Kerala State Film Awards 2011 was immersed in corruption, alleged National Award-winning actor Salim Kumar on Monday. The actor was speaking at a press conference here.
Salim said that the awards were declared without considering the basic standards set by Kerala Chalachitra Academy.
“For instance, the Best Director Award was given to Blessy for the movie Pranayam. But the film’s plot is similar to Paul Cox’s Australian film ‘Innocence’ starring Julia Blake and Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell. When the similarity was pointed out by the journalists during the award declaration, jury chairman Bhagyaraj said that he was not aware of it and has not seen ‘Innocence’,” he said.
The actor opined that if a film was proved to be a copy of another one, it should not be considered for the award. “The jury has violated this rule,” he added.
When contacted, director Blessy said that he did not want to comment on the allegations raised by Salim Kumar.