'Thondimuthalam Driksakshiyum' wins big at 65th National Awards, Sridevi wins Best Actress

'Thondimuthalam Driksakshiyum' also won the Best Malayalam Film, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor awards. The film is directed by Dileesh Pothan.
'Thondimuthalam Driksakshiyum' wins big at 65th National Awards, Sridevi wins Best Actress
'Thondimuthalam Driksakshiyum' wins big at 65th National Awards, Sridevi wins Best Actress
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Actor Sridevi posthumously won the Best Actress award at the 65th National Film Awards on Friday. Sridevi, who passed away on February 24 this year, won the award for her film Mom. Meanwhile, actor Parvathy, who was touted to be a contender for the Best Actress award, got a special mention instead for Take Off. 

Actor Riddhi Sen won the Best Actor award for Bengali film Nagarkirtan. Malayalam Film, Bhayanakam won the awards for Best Direction (Jayaraj) and Best Adaptive Screenplay (Jayaraj.)

Thondimuthalam Driksakshiyum won the Best Malayalam Film Award, and the award for the Best Screenplay (Sajeev Pazhoor). Actor Fahadh Faasil, meanwhile, won the Best Supporting Actor award for the filmdirected by Dileesh Pothan. 

AR Rahman won the award for Best Music Direction and Songs for Kaatru Veliyidai. Best Action Film went to Baahubali. Singer KJ Yesudas won the award for Best Playback Singer Male for Poyi Maranjakaalam from Viswasapoorvam Mansoor and Shashaa Tirupati won the award for Best Playback Female for Vaan Varuvaan from Kaatru Veliyidai.

Take Off also won the award for the Best Production Design.
Sridevi with Boney Kapoor and AR Rahman during a promotional of the Mom in Chennai last year; PTI Photo by R Senthil Kumar. 

Hebbet Ramakka directed by Nanjunde Gowda won the Best Film in Kannada. Tolet, directed by Chezhiyan won the Best Film in Tamil. The Ghaazi Attack was adjudged the Best Film in Telugu. Released in Hindi and Telugu, it tells the tale of an undersea battle in 1971, which resulted in the sinking of the submarine PNS Ghazi. Newton was adjudged the Best Film in Hindi.

The jury was headed by director Shekhar Kapur. Film writer Imtiaz Hussain headed the South I panel and lyricist Mehboob was the head of the South II panel. During the announcement, Shekhar Kapur said he insisted to the rest of the jury that Sridevi should not be given the award only because she passed away. "But every time, we came back to Sridevi," he said, implying that she won the award purely for her performance.

Despite the fact that no one in the jury was from the Malayalam film industry, the state was hopeful of bagging awards for the films Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum, Take Off, Bhayanakam, Alorukkam, Ottamurivelicham, Angamaly Diaries, which were considered probable winners in various categories.

Sridevi’s Hindi film Mom, produced by husband Boney Kapoor and directed by newcomer Ravi Udyavar featured her in the lead as the mother of two children played by Pakistani actors Sajid Ali and Adnan Siddique. The film also saw Nawazuddin Siddique and Akshay Khanna sharing frames with her.

Sridevi played the Mom with the capital M in this revenge thriller that followed a predictable although still discomfiting route. Directed by Ravi Udyawar, Mom had some intense sequences that stood out.

Actor Fahadh Faasil, known for his realistic acting and choice of interesting roles, has been a recipient of the prestigious Kerala State film awards several times. In 2011, he won the award for Best Supporting actor category for his films Akam and Chaappa Kurishu. In 2013, he won the State award for Best actor for the films Artist and North 24 Kaatham.

Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum, a comedy thriller, starring Fahadh Faasil, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Nimisha Sajayan, and Alencier Ley Lopez is largely set in a small police station where our characters tangle and tango with each other, caught in a perplexing and absurd situation.

Parvathy won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress in 2018 for her performance in Take Off which released last year. She also won the best actress award in Goa last year for the International Film Festival in India for the film.

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