Veteran actor and filmmaker Prakash Raj, who chaired the jury for the 55th Kerala State Film Awards, made some impactful statements regarding the National Awards. His comments came amidst discussions about actor Mammootty’s recent National Award snubs, despite delivering several critically acclaimed performances.
Raj candidly declared, “I don’t mind stating that the National Film Awards are compromised.” He expressed immense satisfaction with his experience as the Kerala jury chairman, noting, “I am happy to be a jury chairman of Kerala because when they called me they said that they need an outsider who is experienced. They said that they will not poke their hands into it and that they will let us make a decision. I think if it is such a jury, they don’t deserve Mammukka.” This implies that the Kerala jury’s independence is a stark contrast to the national body.
While praising the State government’s initiative to fund films by women and those from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe backgrounds, he stressed the importance of having a dedicated curating team to ensure these films meet high-quality standards and are genuinely competitive for major awards.
For the second year running, the jury chose not to present an award in the children’s film category. Despite six submissions, the jury found that none genuinely captured a child’s perspective.
Prakash Raj passionately appealed to the film fraternity: “We request the film fraternity to please think of making children’s films. Children are a part of the society and we need to know what children think and what they understand. Just casting a few children is not enough to make it a children’s cinema. None of the films submitted talked about children’s perceptions. Even in the other films in which child actors were cast, they were not speaking their age.” He emphasized the critical need for films that truly reflect the world through a child’s eyes.
Furthermore, the jury put forth suggestions for new award categories, proposing awards for dialogue writing and action choreography. They also recommended discontinuing the sync sound award and integrating it into the sound mixing category.