Kerala State Film Awards 2019: Jayasurya, Nimisha Sajayan win top honours; see full winner's list

The winners of the Kerala State Awards 2019 were announced on 27 February by culture affairs minister AK Balan.

The jury this year is presided over by screenwriter and director Kumar Shahani. Sherry Govindan, George Joseph, KG Jayan, Mohandas, Vijaykrishnan, Biju Sukumaran, Berny-Ignatius and Navya Nair are other jury members, writes Manorama .

Kanthan: The Lover of Colour was declared the Best Film. Jayasurya (Captain and Njan Marykutty) and Soubin Shahir (Sudani from Nigeria) shared the Best Actor accolade while Nimisha Sajayan (Chola and Oru Kuprasidha Payyan) got the Best Actress award, while Shyamaprasad was Best Director. Joju (Chola and Joseph) and Savithra Sreedharan were Best Character Actor and Actress, respectively.

Vishal Bhardwaj won Best Music Director for Carbon and Bijibal for Aami’s background music. Shreya Ghoshal (Nirmathalam) and Vijay Yesudas (Poomuthole) were declared the Best Female and Male Singer. Best Lyrics went to Hari Narayanan for Joseph and Theevandi.

Mohanlal and Manju Warrier, who were shortlisted for Best Actor and Best Actress withdrew their names from Kerala State Awards 2019. According to Mathrubhumi.com , Mohanlal had informed the jury in the past as well that he was not interested in contesting for the awards.

He was nominated for his performances in Odiyan and Kayamkulam Kochunni. Warrier was also shortlisted for Odiyan as well as Aami.