52nd Kerala State Film Awards winners: Biju Menon, Joju George, Revathy best actors, Dileesh Pothan best director

Just like last year, it was the OTT films that once again reigned supreme at the 52nd Kerala State Film Awards, which was announced today. OTT movies such as Joji, Churuli, Bhoothakaalam, Freedom Fight and Madhuram took home big awards this.

Biju Menon and Joju George were adjudged Best Actor (Male) for their roles in Aarkkariyam, and Madhuram and Nayattu, respectively. Revathy clinched the award for the Best Actor (Female) for her role in Bhoothakaalam, which released directly on Sony LIV. Krishand RK's Avasavyuham won the award for the Best Film this year. 

Dileesh Pothan, who helmed Fahadh Faasil’s Amazon Prime Video release Joji, won the best director honour this year, while Jeo Baby’s Sony LIV anthology Freedom Fight, which featured five segments, won a special jury mention.

Among other OTT films to clinch major awards was Minnal Murali, which took home awards for Best VFX (Andrew D'Cruz), best costume (Melvin J) and best sound recording (Justin Jose). Vineeth Sreenivasan’s Hridayam was adjudged the Best Popular Film this year, with its composer Hesham Abdul Wahab winning the award for best music director. Syam Pushkaran won the best adapted screenplay honour for Joji, whlle Shahi Kabeer's script of Nayattu as selected as the best screenplay. Justin Varghese's background score for Joji also clinched him his first State Award. Unnimaya won the award for the best character actress, again for her performance in Joji, while Sumesh Moor won the award in the male category for his role in Kala.

Sitara Krishnakumar was selected as the best singer (female) for her track in Kaanekkaane, while Krishnendu Kalesh won the best debut director award for his film Prappada (Hawk's Muffin). Renganaath Rave was adjudged the best sound designer for his work in Churuli, which again is streaming on Sony LIV. 

This year saw tight competition for each categories with 29 films making the final list of the jury that was headed by Hindi director and scriptwriter Saeed Akhtar Mirza. A total of 142 movies had made it to the preliminary list out of which films by top stars such as Mohanlal’s Drishyam 2, Mammootty’s One and The Priest, Dulquer Salmaan’s Kurup, Tovino Thomas’ Kala, Kaanekkaane and Minnal Murali, Suresh Gopi’s Kaaval and Pranav Mohanlal’s Hridayam were in the race till the final few days.