Thiruvananthapuram: Culture Minister VN Vasavan has announced that director KP Kumaran has been selected for the 2021 JC Daniel Award for Lifetime Contribution to the Malayalam Film Industry. The awardee was selected by the committee includes 2001 JC Daniel Award winner and playback singer P Jayachandran, Chairman, director Sibi Malayil, Film Academy Chairman Ranjith, Rani George IAS, Principal Secretary, Department of Culture are the members of JC Daniel Award 2001, which is the state government’s highest film award, with a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh, a citation and a sculpture.
The decision of the award stated that KP Kumaran is a director who has infused a new visual language and emotion to Malayalam parallel cinema through half a century of filmmaking. ‘Rock’ won an international award in 1972.
The jury opined that films such as ‘Athithi’, which has a crucial place in the new wave of Malayalam films with its narrative style that combines reality and fantasy, and ‘Rugmini’, which won the National Award for Best Malayalam Film in 1988 and was made based on Madhavikkutty’s novel Rugminikoru Paavakutty, are rare visual sculptures in Malayalam film history.
