Kerala Film Awards: Dileep, Shwetha Menon best actors, Indian Rupee best film

Velaripravinte Changathi is a film based in the 1960s-70s. It is directed by Akku Akbar and features Dileep, Kavya Madhavan, Manoj K Jayan and Indrajith in lead roles.

While Dileep has won several best actor awards in the past for his roles, this is his first Kerala State Film Award for best actor.

Menon’s Salt N Pepper is a Malayalam romantic comedy film directed by Ashiq Abu in which she plays the character Maya Krishnan, a dubbing artiste. The film is about two love stories – one between Maya and Kalidasan (played by Lal) an archaeologist and other between Meenakshi (played by Mythili), an IELTS student and Manu (Asif Ali), a management professional.

Salt N Pepper enjoyed commercial success at the Box Office last year. It also won the award for the most popular film at the Kerala State Film Awards 2011.

This was Menon’s second Kerala State Film award. She had previously won the trophy for her role in the 2009 film Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha.

Other major winners of the Kerala State Film awards 2011 are Director Blessy for his Mohanlal-starrer romantic drama Pranayam and the film Indian Rupee directed by Renjith.

Blessy’s Pranayam is inspired by Australian film director Paul Cox’s film Innocence released in 2000. In addition to Mohanlal, the film stars Anupam Kher and Jaya Prada in main roles. Blessy and Mohanlal also won the critics’ awards for best director and best actor for the film.

Meanwhile Renjith’s Indian Rupee won the Best Feature film award. Indian Rupee is a 2011 satirical film about Indian youngsters who want to become very rich quickly without working for it. Its plot revolves around Jayaprakash (actor Prithviraj), a real estate dealer and a school drop-out who wants to become rich one day. Towards the end, Jayaprakash manages to earn himself a small fortune but learns valuable lessons about earning a living.

Malayalam actor Thilakan who passed away on September 24 played a prominent role in Indian Rupee and received positive reviews from critics. 

Among other winners of the Kerala film awards 2011 are Jagathy Sreekumar – best comedian; Fahad Fazil - Best supporting male actor for Chappakurishu; Nilambur Ayisha - Best supporting female actress for Oormakkuyil Padumpol; Shreya Ghoshal - Best female singer for Rathinirvedam; and Sarath - Best music director for the film Ivan Mekharoopan.