The star-studded Ananda Vikatan Cinema awards on Saturday saw the most popular celebrities from Tamil cinema walk away with one award after another. While the awardees no doubt received a generous round of applause, there was one award presenter who perhaps outdid them all.
When anti-caste activist Kausalya Sankar walked on to the stage, she required no introduction. And the star who insisted that she give him the award was none other than Satyaraj, who received the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ award for his role in the sequel to Baahubali.
“When the organisers informed me that I had received the award, they also suggested the names of some senior actors from whom I could receive it. I, however, insisted that I will receive the award from Kausalya, who has overcome personal tragedy and is fighting for a noble cause. As actors, we only fight for social issues on screen. But these are people who fight on the ground,” said Satyaraj.
A Tirupur court recently convicted Kausalya’s father and 10 others for the murder of her husband Sankar, who was a Dalit. The honour killing took place at Udamalaipettai in March 2016. Her father Chinnaswamy was sentenced to death by the Principal District and Sessions Judge Alamelu Natarajan.
Kausalya, who spoke at the event, said that she was honoured to be present there and that she will continue her fight against caste discrimination.
Following the verdict, she had said that she would appeal against the acquittal of three of the accused, including her own mother.
Also present on stage to hand over the award was Thirumurugan Gandhi, founder of the May 17 movement.
This is fourth time that actor Satyaraj is receiving an award from Ananda Vikatan. The actor has been very vocal about several social issues, including caste crimes and manual scavenging.