The Kerala State Film Awards for the year 2023 are all set to be announced on August 16. Officials at the Kerala Chalachitra Academy, which organises the awards, said that the jury, headed by veteran director Sudhir Mishra, will conduct the screening of the films that entered the final round on August 15. However, the announcement could be delayed if the jury decides to watch any of the movies again, the officials added.
Even though films such as 'Aadujeevitham,' 'Kaathal,' '2018' and 'Ullozhukku' are among the frontrunners for the best film award, any of the unreleased movies could walk away with the honours. The main competition for the best actor award is between Prithviraj and Mammootty. While Prithviraj stunned the audience as Najeeb in ‘Aadujeevitham,’ Mammootty’s portrayal of Mathew in ‘Kaathal-The Core’ and police officer George in ‘Kannur Squad’ could earn him the award. Incidentally, Mammootty was the winner of the award last time for ‘Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam.’

Meanwhile, Urvashi and Parvathy Thiruvothu exhibited their acting skills in ‘Ullozhukku’ while Kalyani Priyadarshan came up with award-worthy performances in some movies. They are leading the race for the best actress award. Curiously, majority of the 160 films submitted for the awards are yet to be released and some of them could win the awards. Another peculiarity of these 160 films is that 84 of them have been directed by debutants.

Other notable movies competing for the awards include Mohanlal’s ‘Neru,’ Suresh Gopi’s ‘Garudan,’ ‘Falimy,’ ‘Pookkalam,’ ‘Sesham Mike-il Fathima,’ ‘Gaganachari,’ ‘Pranaya Vilasam,’ ‘Kadina Kadoramee Andakadaham,’ ‘Neymar,’ ‘Ottu’ and ‘18-Plus.’

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