Malayalam cinema wins 14 laurels at National Film Awards
3 min readBy Express News Service
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The timing couldn’t have been higher. A day after a 64-year-old tribal girl traversed the seemingly unassailable route from Rairangpur in Odisha to Raisina Hill in New Delhi and have become the President-elect, Nanchamma, a folks singer from a humble tribal hamlet in Attappadi, gained the 68th National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer on Friday.
The 62-year-old — who had all the state singing alongside to her uncooked but soulful rendition of Kalakkatha from ‘Ayyappanum Koshiyum’ directed by the late Sachy — now shares the record with elites like Lata Mangeshkar, KS Chitra and S Janaki.
Filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan expressed happiness over the award for Nanchamma. “Usually folk-singing does not make it to mainstream cinema. It’s a rare feat indeed,” he mentioned.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan congratulated the winners. “Malayalam cinema has once again proved its mettle by bagging many prestigious awards including the best director and best female actor. Hope this will inspire them to conquer new and greater heights,” tweeted Pinarayi.
This 12 months, Mollywood bagged 14 honours.
While ‘Ayyappanum Koshiyum’ bagged 4 — Best Director (Sachy), Supporting Actor (Biju Menon), Female Playback Singer (Nanchamma) and Stunt Choreography — ‘Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam’, a small-budget movie by Senna Hegde that was launched on OTT and took the viewers by storm, was adjudged the Best Malayalam Film.
ALSO READ | 68th National Film Awards: Full record of winners
Hegde mentioned: “I’m very happy and feel extremely grateful for the awesome reception we have been getting from the audience and now at the national level,” he advised TNIE.
On Malayalam movies bagging fairly just a few awards, Hegde felt it was about time. The state had its share of glory in two different prime classes too.
While Aparna Balamurali gained the Best Actress Award for Tamil film ‘Soorarai Pottru’, the perfect screenplay for a similar movie was shared by Sudha Kongara and Shalini Usha Nair, a Malayali.
Biju Menon, who portrayed a troublesome cop in ‘Ayyappanum Koshiyum’ devoted the award to Sachy.
Aparna advised TNIE that her character ‘Bommi’ within the Suriya-starrer impressed her to painting extra significant characters and discover in better depth the nuances of performing.
READ HERE | National Film Awards: Kerala’s tribal folks singer Nanjiyamma elated on win
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The timing couldn’t have been higher. A day after a 64-year-old tribal girl traversed the seemingly unassailable route from Rairangpur in Odisha to Raisina Hill in New Delhi and have become the President-elect, Nanchamma, a folks singer from a humble tribal hamlet in Attappadi, gained the 68th National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer on Friday.
The 62-year-old — who had all the state singing alongside to her uncooked but soulful rendition of Kalakkatha from ‘Ayyappanum Koshiyum’ directed by the late Sachy — now shares the record with elites like Lata Mangeshkar, KS Chitra and S Janaki.
Filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan expressed happiness over the award for Nanchamma. “Usually folk-singing does not make it to mainstream cinema. It’s a rare feat indeed,” he mentioned.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan congratulated the winners. “Malayalam cinema has once again proved its mettle by bagging many prestigious awards including the best director and best female actor. Hope this will inspire them to conquer new and greater heights,” tweeted Pinarayi.
This 12 months, Mollywood bagged 14 honours.
While ‘Ayyappanum Koshiyum’ bagged 4 — Best Director (Sachy), Supporting Actor (Biju Menon), Female Playback Singer (Nanchamma) and Stunt Choreography — ‘Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam’, a small-budget movie by Senna Hegde that was launched on OTT and took the viewers by storm, was adjudged the Best Malayalam Film.
ALSO READ | 68th National Film Awards: Full record of winners
Hegde mentioned: “I’m very happy and feel extremely grateful for the awesome reception we have been getting from the audience and now at the national level,” he advised TNIE.
On Malayalam movies bagging fairly just a few awards, Hegde felt it was about time. The state had its share of glory in two different prime classes too.
While Aparna Balamurali gained the Best Actress Award for Tamil film ‘Soorarai Pottru’, the perfect screenplay for a similar movie was shared by Sudha Kongara and Shalini Usha Nair, a Malayali.
Biju Menon, who portrayed a troublesome cop in ‘Ayyappanum Koshiyum’ devoted the award to Sachy.
Aparna advised TNIE that her character ‘Bommi’ within the Suriya-starrer impressed her to painting extra significant characters and discover in better depth the nuances of performing.
READ HERE | National Film Awards: Kerala’s tribal folks singer Nanjiyamma elated on win
