Mammootty reigned supreme at the Mathrubhumi Amrita Film Awards (MAFA) held in Cochin’s Marine Drive to celebrate Malayalam cinema. Growing as an event, the awards now also celebrate the best in Tamil and Hindi cinema as well.
In a star-studded evening, wrapped in entertainment, Mammootty walked off with the Best Actor prize and his epic film Pazhazzi Raja, telling the tale of the Kottayam king who rebelled against the British, won Best Movie. In addition, Best Supporting Actor went to Manoj K Jayan and Best Supporting Actress to the beautiful Padmapriya for the same movie.
Best Director was Renjith for the intriguing Paleri Manikyam – Oru Pathira Kolapathakam, a Kollywood film noir, also starring Mammootty as a private detective investigating a fifty-year old murder. Best Actress was Kavya Madhavan for her role as a classical dancer in Banaras, a love story set amongst the pilgrim centres of the holy river.
Most Popular Actor was Srinivasan and Most Popular Actress was Lakshmi Rai, who excelled this year in 2 Harihar Naga, a buddy movie which has four idiots in it! Bollywood actress Asin also won an award as The Pride of Kerala.
Stretching into Kollywood for the first time, Surya and Shreya won the Best Actor and Best Actress Awards for their work in Tamil
