64th National Film Awards; Mohanlal’s response after winning the Special Jury award

The 64th National Film Awards were announced today. Akshay Kumar won the award for Best Actor for his work in Rustom while Malayali actress Surabhi Lakshmi was honoured with the best actress award for Minnaminungu.

Malayalam cinema won seven awards including the award for best actress. Mohanlal, arguably one of the best actors in the country, won the Special Jury award for his performance in Janatha Garage, Pulimurugan and Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbol.

Mohanlal’s award came in as a pleasant surprise because most didn’t expect him to win an award this time. The actor was shooting for his upcoming movie Villain with director B Unnikrishnan when the awards were announced.

Talking to the media, Mohanlal said he didn’t expect to win this time but was very happy have won it. The actor added that every award is a moment of happiness but this one was double the joy as he didn’t expect to win one this time.

This is Mohanlal’s fourth National award and second in the special jury category. His tryst with the National awards started with a special jury mention in 1989 for his performance in Kireedam. Two years later, he followed it up with his first National award for best actor for his performance in Bharatham (1991). In 1999, he won the best actor award for Vanaprastham. The movie, produced by Mohanlal also won the honour for best film.

This year, Mohanlal was among the final three actors shortlisted for the award in the best actor category. National award jury chairman Priyadarshan said that Mohanlal was honoured with the special jury award after taking into account his performance both in Telugu and Malayalam.