'Thanmatra' bags key Kerala film awards

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 7 (IANS) "Thanmatra", the tale of a man affected by Alzheimer's disease, Tuesday swept the Kerala State Film Awards for 2005, bagging the best film, best actor and best director.

Announcing the awards here, Minister for Culture A.P. Anil Kumar said "Thanmatra" had also won the best screenplay and a special mention for debutant Arjun Lal.

Veteran actor Mohanlal who plays the lead role won the best actor award and filmmaker Blessy won the award for direction and screenplay.

Blessy, who is in his mid 30s, had shot to stardom with his first film "Kazcha" in 2004 which won several awards that year. "Thanmatra" was his second film.

"I am really happy that my film has bagged important awards. This is an appreciation for a film with a difference because it has not toed the usual route of a commercial film, even though it is a commercial film," said Blessy.

"Ananthabhadram", directed by ace cameraman Santosh Sivan, also bagged a few awards.

Sivan was adjudged as the best cameraman while M.G. Radhakrishnan won the best music director award. The honour for editing went to Srikar Prasad, art direction to Sunil Babu and makeup to Patanam Rasheed.

Navya Nair bagged the best actress award for her roles in "Saira" and "Kanna Marunu".

"I am really excited because this is the second time that I have got the best actress award. The films I got the award for have hugely different characters," said Nair.

Ace comedian Salim Kumar bagged the second best actor award for his role in "Achan Urangatha Veedu", in which he plays a serious role.

Upcoming new face Bhavana bagged the second best actress for her role in "Daivanamthil".

Dadasaheb Phalke award winner Adoor Gopalakrishnan bagged the best director award for his documentary film on Kalamandalam Krishnan Kutty Nair.

With every award announcement creating a controversy in recent times, this time the complaint came from producer Aryadan Shoukat, who won the best story award for his film "Daivanamthil".

"For sometime now, the trend is the sidelining of films which do not fall in the category of full length commercial films. This does not give an impetus to people who wish to think differently. Something has to be done," said Shoukat.

Awards jury chairman Sibi Malayil said this time there were 34 entries and the awards had been declared with almost total unanimity.

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