Actor Guru Somasundaram has been named the ‘best actor in a leading role’ from India in the 2022 edition of the Asian Academy Creative Awards. The award is in recognition of his performance in the role of Shibu in the 2021 Malayalam film Minnal Murali. The film’s director Basil Joseph has also been awarded for ‘best direction (fiction)’ from India, besides which Minnal Murali has also been recognised in the ‘Best visual or special FX in TV series of feature film’ category from India.
Asian Academy Creative Awards (AAA) is an annual award instituted to recognise excellence in the film and television industry in the Asia-Pacific region. AAA “honours excellence in craft and technical disciplines” in 16 countries in the region.
In the superhero film Minnal Murali, Guru Somasundaram had given a stellar performance as the supervillain Shibu — a social outcast who acquires superpowers after being struck by lightning, and emerges as a powerful antagonist to the film’s hero. Having managed to seamlessly portray a myriad of complex emotions coursing through Shibu’s mind with finesse, he had received both popular acceptance as well as critical acclaim for the role. His career as a film actor started with the 2011 Tamil film Aaranya Kaandam, following which he delivered noteworthy performances in Jigarthanda (2014), Joker (2016) and Vanjagar Ulagam (2018) among others. He is also part of a number of upcoming projects in both Malayalam and Tamil film industries.
Basil Joseph emerged as a director to look out for with his very first film Kunjiramayanam (2015), which he followed with Godha (2017). His third and latest directorial venture Minnal Murali narrated the story of a homegrown superhero, played by Tovino Thomas. The film was written by Arun Anirudhan and Justin Mathew.
Minnal Murali, hailed as India’s first original superhero film, differed from other movies in the genre by not depending on an exorbitant budget to portray the superpowers of its villain and hero. The film features about 40 minutes of visual effects by Mindstein Studios.