Director-producer Prakash Raj on Monday said the shortlisting and selection process for National Film Awards is “compromised”, as per reports.
"I don't mind saying that the National Film Awards are compromised. I am so happy to be a jury chairperson in Kerala because when they called me, they said that we need an outsider who is experienced, and we will not poke our hands into it. We will let you take a decision," Prakash Raj told the media on the sidelines of the 55th Kerala State Film Awards.
Prakash Raj, who headed the Jury, addressed the repeated omission of Mammootty in the National Awards in recent years after he won the Best Actor award in Kerala.
“If such sort of jury and government are there, they don't deserve Mammootty," he said.
The winners of the 55th Kerala State Film Awards were announced at a press conference on Monday by Kerala cultural affairs minister Saji Cherian. While Mammootty won the Best Actor award for his performance in Rahul Sadasivan's horror thriller Bramayugam, Shamla Hamza bagged the Best Actress honour for her performance in director Fasil Muhammed's film Feminichi Fathima.
With the Best Actor win, Mammootty has broken the record for most wins in the category with seven trophies now. Actors Mohanlal and Urvashi have six each.
On the work front, Prakash Raj recently starred in Sujeeth’s action crime film They Call Him OG. Mammootty, on the other hand, last appeared in Deeno Dennis’s Bazooka.
