Kochi: Kerala Government announced 51^st Kerala State Film Awards on Saturday afternoon, the best of Kerala’s cinema and artistes for the year 2020.

The Great Indian Kitchen won the award for Best Film, with its writer& director Jeo Baby being crowned Best Screenwriter. The Best Actor award went to Jayasurya for his performance in ‘Vellam’, and the Best Actress award was given to Anna Ben for her work in ‘Kappela’. Sidhartha Siva won Best Director. Sachy directorial ‘Ayyappanum Koshiyum’ won best popular film.

The jury awards committee comprised with actress and director Suhasini Maniratnam as Chairperson and other jury members are South Indian filmmakers Bhadran, P Sheshadri, musician Mohan Sithara, cinematographer C K Muraleedharan, sound designer M Harikumar, and critic and screenwriter N Sasidharan. The results were declared by the minister of Kerala Film Development Corporation, Saji Cheriyan, along with the Chalachitra Academy in an event hosted in Thiruvananthapuram.

             The 51 Kerala State Film Awards winners is as follows:

Best Actor: Jayasurya (Vellam)
Best Actress: Anna Ben (Kappela)
Best Film: The Great Indian Kitchen (Director: Jeo Baby)
Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value: Ayyappanum Koshiyum (Director: Sachy)

Second Best Film: Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam (Senna Hegde)

Best Children’s Film: Bonami
Best Director: Sidhartha Siva (Ennivar)
Best Screenwriter: Jeo Baby (The Great Indian Kitchen)

Best Story: Senna Hegde (Thinkalazcha Nischayam)
Best Director (Debut): Muhammad Musthafa (Kappela)
Best Editor: Mahesh Narayanan (C U Soon)

Best Cinematography: Chandru Selvaraj (Kayattum)

Best Sound Design: Tony Babu (The Great Indian Kitchen)

Best Music Director, Best Background Score: M Jayachandran (Sufiyum Sujatayum)

Best Lyricist: Anwar Ali
Best Art Direction: Santosh Raman (Pyali, Malik)

Best Visual Effects: Saryas Mohammad (Love)

Best Character Actor: Sudheesh (Ennivar, Bhoomiyile Manohara Swakaryam)

Best Character Actress: Sreekekha (Veyil)

Best Child Actor: Niranjan S.

Best Child Actress: Aravya Sharma
Best Singer (Male): Shahbaaz Aman
Best Singer (Female): Nithya Mammen
Best Dubbing Artists: Shobi Thilakan (male), Riya Saira (female)

Best Colorist: Liju Prabhakar (Kayattam)

Best Makeup: Rasheed Ahamed (Article 21)

Best Costume: Dhanya Balakrishnan (Malik)

Best Choreography: Lalitha Soby & Babu Xavier (Soofiyum Sujathayum)
Special award for women/transgender category: Nanjiamma