Marakkar, Helen and other M-Town National Award winners

While Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham, by veteran director Priyadarshan, won the Best Feature Film award at the 67th National Film Awards, interestingly debut Malayalam film Helen too won. The film, helmed by Mathukutty Xavier, bagged the Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Feature.
Marakkar also won the awards for costumes by Sujith and special effects by Siddharth Priyadarshan, while Helen won for makeup artist Ranjith.Jallikattu received the award for Best Cinematography by Girish Gangadharan. The awards were announced by noted film critic Saibal Chatterjee. Rahul Riji Nair’s Kalla Nottam won the Best Malayalam Feature, while Biriyaani, written and directed by Sajin Babu, got a Special Mention. Kani Kusruti had won the State Award for Best Actress, which was announced in October, for her portrayal of a troubled Muslim woman in Biriyaani. Resul Pookutty has also won the Best Sound Recording Award for the Tamil film Oththa Seruppu.
The National Award for Best Actor was shared by Manoj Bajpai and Dhanush, for Bhonsle and Asuran - which marked Manju Warrier’s Tamil debut - respectively, while Kangana Ranaut took the Best Actress award for Manikarnika: Queen of Jhansi, and Panga. Out of 13 contesting states, filmmaker Shaji Karun announced that Sikkim received the award for Most Film Friendly State.
Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham, a multi-starrer historial based on the life of sea commander Kunjali Marakkar IV who fought against the Portuguese, was scheduled for a Vishu 2020 release, but was postponed due to the pandemic.