Jayaraj dedicated the award to war veterans from Kuttanad who perished in World War II.Ace Malayalam film-maker Jayaraj has won the national award for the best director for his period drama Bhayanakam. The film, based on a chapter in the epic novel Kayar , tells the story of Kuttanad in the pre-Independence era when youths in large numbers joined the British India army to fight in World War II.
Reacting to the news Jayaraj told Onmanorama that he dedicated the "award to some 650-odd men of Kuttanad who were recruited to the army and perished in the war."
"I also remember the great writer Thakazhi Shivasankara Pillai on this occasion," he said referring to the Jnanpith-winning author of Kayar.
Set in the idylic locales of Kumarakom and adjoining places, the movie weaves the contrasting moods of both hope and despair laid in the narrative.
A postman in the village, played by Renji Panicker, is the central character in the film who is first seen as the messiah heralding fortune and then transforms into the most dreaded jinx for the villagers with the onset of the war and its repercussions. Asha Sharath plays the female lead in the film.
The music of the film is by veteran composer MK Arjunan, who had won the state award this year.
Nikhil S. Praveen cranked the camera for the film produced by Dr. Suresh Kumar Muttath under the banner of Prakriti Pictures.
This is Jayaraj's second National Award as the best director and the seventh National Award for a film directed by him.
