The 40th Kerala Film Critics Association hosted the Malayalam Film Critics Awards on Monday. As expected, Malayalam superstar Mohanlal bagged the best actor award for his terrific portrayal of a blind lift operator, Shivaraman in Oppam. In fact both of Mohanlal blockbusters, Oppam and Pulimurugan dominated the honors as director Priyadarshan bagged the best director award for Oppam, which also won the award for the best film of the year. Malayalam cinema’s first Rs. 100 crore grosser, Pulimurugan clinched the best popular film honor. The lady superstar of South Indian films, Nayanthara won the top actress recognition for her brilliant performance as a rape-survivor housewife in the Mammootty starrer, Puthiya Niyamam.
Malayalam young actor Nivin Pauly, Tinu Tom and Samuthirakkani won the special jury recognition for Action Hero Biju, Daffedar, and Oppam whereas actress Lakshmy Gopalaswamy won the same for her performance in Kamboji.
Here are the complete winners’ list of 40th Malayalam Film Critics Awards;
Best Actor – Mohanlal (Oppam)
Best Actress – Nayanthara (Puthiya Niyamam)
Best Film – Oppam
Most Popular Film – Pulimurugan
Best Director – Priyadarshan (Oppam)
Best Second Film – Jacobinte Swargarajyam
Best Second Actor – Renji Pancker (Jacobinte Swargarajyam), Siddique(Sukhamayirikkatte)
Best Second Actress – Surabhi (Minnaminungu)
Best Scriptwriter – Vineeth Sreenivasan (Jacobinte Swargarajyam)
Best Music Director – M Jayachandran (Kamboji)
Best Male Singer – Madhu Balakrishnan
Best Female Singer – Varsha Vinu and Alka Ajith
Best Cinematographer – Sujith Vaassudev (James And Alice)
Ruby Jubilee Award – Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Special Jury Awards
Nivin Pauly – Action Hero Biju
Tinu Tom – Daffedar
Samudhirakkani – Oppam
Lakshmy Gopalaswamy – Kamboji
Lifetime Achievement Awards – Sreekumaran Thampi, Fazil, K.Ramachandra Babu and Shanthi Krishna
