Kerala State Film Awards

The Kerala State film awards for 2009 were announced and the period film ‘Pazhassi Raja' led from the front with eight awards in various categories, including awards for the best director, best actors and best scriptwriter. M.T. Vasudevan Nair, Hariharan and Mammootty had swept the awards with their ‘Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha.' The same film had also annexed the National awards then.


However, ‘Pazhassi Raja' was surprisingly left out in the cold when it came to the International Film Festival of India. The eight State awards must certainly be a shot in the arm for the team that made the epic. Moreover, ‘Pazhassi Raja' also won the best director award for Hariharan; the one that he had missed for ‘Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha.'

One of the main reasons for the film's success was the apt casting – be it Mammootty in the title role, or Sarath Kumar, Manoj K. Jayan and Padmapriya, as the king's bravest warriors. With Manoj and Padmapriya too having won the State awards – for the second best actor and actress – the director's casting coup is all too clear.