Kerala State Film Awards controversy: Critically acclaimed film Home fails to win
Home is produced by actor-producer Vijay Babu who is currently on the run from authorities after being accused of sexually assaulting a young actress.
If anyone wondered why there has been no controversy after the announcement of the 2021 Kerala State Film Awards then they are mistaken, as less than 24 hours it has surfaced after those associated with the hugely popular film Home alleged the jury headed by veteran director Sayyed Akhtar Mirza might not even have seen the film.
The fears of those who said this is attributed to the fact that the film was produced by actor-producer Vijay Babu, presently on the run after being accused of sexually assaulting a young actress. The fresh lid of this controversy was opened by veteran actor Indrans who played the title role in the film and a previous state award-winning actor expressed doubts if the jury has seen the film, as all who saw it have said it's really good.
"Maybe the jury would not have seen the film. I expected that the film would do well at the screening of the awards, but it has not happened. Maybe the issue of Babu being the producer of the film might have been there," said Indrans who won the Best actor award in 2018.
"Is it good to punish all members in a family , if one member has done a wrong. Ok, now Babu is accused, what will happen if he is exonerated. Will the film then be considered, no?" said Indrans.
Manju Pillai who played a prominent role in the film also expressed her sadness that the film failed to shine as expected, when the awards was announced. Rojin Thomas the young director of the film said all expected that the film will do well, but it failed to do so, when the awards were announced.
"But, the moment it was known our film did not win any awards, my phone has not stopped ringing as numerous people called me and comforted me. I feel this is the biggest award that I got," said Thomas.
But Mirza reacting to this dismissed the statement that the jury has not seen the film as nothing but ridiculous. "Every single member of the jury has seen this film and never did this film in any segment come to the last round," said Mirza.
Youth Congress president Shafi Parambil, also a legislator alleged the role of the government in denying Home an award has surfaced and it even deserves an Oscar.