Kerala State Awards 2018 to be announced today; all you need to know about the ceremony, from awards to jury

The 49th Kerala State Awards for 2018 will be announced on 28 February by the minister of cultural affairs A K Balan.

104 films will reportedly be competing under various categories and they include 100 feature films and four children’s movies.

However, one of the most awaited award announcements would be for that of the Best Actor. Fahadh Faasil, who had a terrific year with Njan Prakashan , Carbon , and Varathan , is at the forefront of the race along with Tovin Thomas, who appeared in  Theevandi , Maradona and Ente Ummante Peru . Other contenders include:

Suraj Venjaramood - Kuttanpillayude Sivarathri

Mohanlal - Odiyan

Nivin Pauly -  Kayamkulam Kochunni

Dileep - ( Kammara Sambhavam )

Joju George - ( Joseph )

Jayasurya - ( Captain ,  Njan Marykutty ).

Menawhile, in the Best Actress category, Manju Warrier has two of her outings in Ami and Odiyan, while Urvashi stands next with Ente Ummante Peru and Aishwarya Lekshmi for Varathan, along with other nominees like Samyukta Menon, Nazriya Nazim and Esther.

Filmmakers Sathyan Anthikad, Shaji N Karun and TV Chandran are in the race for the Best Director among others.

Controversies

The Kerala Chalachithra Academy was divided over whether films Aami and Carbon should be considered for awards. The confusion arose given that the former has been directed by Kamal, the sitting chairperson of the Academy and the latter has been edited by Beena Paul, the vice-chairperson. According to the rules, the films from the executive members are not considered for the awards. However, even if the movie is being considered for the awards, they won’t be eligible to get an individual award for it.

The Jury members

Noted filmmaker Kumar Sahni heads the jury, along with Dr KP Poker, Sherry Govindan, George Kithu, KG Jayan and others.