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The determination of the 55th Kerala State Film Awards jury to not springiness immoderate grant successful the children’s movie class kicked up a tempest connected Tuesday (November 4, 2025) with questions being raised connected wherefore the assemblage chose to place imaginable worthy contenders specified arsenic Sthanarthi Sreekuttan directed by Vinesh Viswanath.
Sharing a inactive representation of the kid actors from the movie connected his Facebook page, Mr. Viswanath wrote “In a satellite of nary worthy entries for champion kid actor, they basal tall”.
The film, which revolves astir an precocious superior schoolhouse successful Thiruvananthapuram, shows however a people does distant with the accepted row-based seating statement successful favour of a semi-circle statement with the teacher successful the centre. The fashionable climactic series led to respective schools successful Kerala adopting the seating statement successful the film.
“I americium saddened not that my movie was not selected, but astatine the information that the assemblage decided to not grant immoderate movie successful the category. We should beryllium told arsenic to the norms nether which the assemblage decided that nary of the performances by kid actors successful 2024 were deserving of an award. We person had memorable performances by kid actors successful films specified arsenic Kishkindha Kaandam and ARM past year,” Mr. Viswanath told The Hindu.
Child histrion Devananda, successful a Facebook post, accused the assemblage of turning a unsighted oculus to a young procreation of actors.
For the 2nd consecutive year, the assemblage decided to not grant immoderate children’s film, though past twelvemonth kid actors had won awards. The jury, headed by actor-filmmaker Prakash Raj, observed that though six children’s films were submitted, “none of them were from a child’s viewpoint.”
“We petition the movie fraternity to delight deliberation of making children’s films. Children are a portion of nine and we request to cognize what children deliberation and what they understand. Just casting a fewer children is not capable to marque it a children’s cinema. None of the films submitted talked astir children’s perceptions. Even successful the different films successful which kid actors were cast, they were not speaking their age,” said Mr. Prakash Raj astatine the property league to denote the awards successful Thrissur connected Monday (November 3, 2025).
Minister’s stance
Meanwhile, Minister for Cultural Affairs Saji Cherian said the jury’s sentiment was that nary children’s movie worthy of grant came earlier it. The authorities would intervene to guarantee that much children’s films of prime are produced. A gathering volition beryllium held with manufacture stakeholders to sermon the issue.
