Vinayakan and Manikandan Thiruvananthapuram: According to reports, it was T. K. Vinayakan and Manikandan R. Achari who were in the race for the prestigious award for the best actor in the final round of the Kerala State Film Awards 2016 for their stellar performance in critically-acclaimed Kammatipadam.
The jury also considered Salim Kumar and K. Kaladharan for their roles in Karutha Joothan and Ottayal Patha respectively, but finally the verdict went in favor of Vinayakan.
Manikandan was adjudged the best actor in a supporting role while Kaladharan won the Special Jury award. Salim Kumar too was honored, by giving him the award for best story for Karutha Joothan.
It is learned that Dulquer Salmaan was also in contention in early rounds for the best actor award.
According to Kerala Chalachitra Academy chairman and filmmaker Kamal, the award guidelines do not specify that only actors playing lead roles be considered for the best actor award. In the entry submitted by the producer of Kammatipadam for the award, it was clearly mentioned that the lead roles in the movie were played by Dulquer, Vinayakan and Manikandan. Even if the entry had not featured all the three names, the jury has right to make the selection based on an artiste's performance, he said.
There was also a keen contest among a number of entries for the best film award. It sparked off a lot of interesting arguments and counter arguments among the jury members. The films shortlisted for the final round were Manhole, Ottayal Patha, Kammatipadam, Maheshinte Prathikaram, Guppy, Kaadu Pookkunna Neram, Aaradi, and Pinneyum.
Finally, Manhole by journalist-turned-director Vidhu Vincent was selected as the best feature film while Ottayal Patha was given the award for the second best film. Maheshinte Prathikaram won the award for the best popular film.
Manhole was honored for its sincere attempt to bring the struggles of manual scavenging workers on screen, while the subtle narrative style helped Ottayal Patha get the award.
For the award for the best director, the jury had considered Rajeev Ravi for Kammatipadam along with Vidhu Vincent.
Those in the race for the best actor (female) award along with the eventual winner Rajisha Vijayan were Rima Kallingal (Kaadu Pookkunna Neram), Surabhi Lekshmi (Minnaminungu).
