THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: South jury member MB Padmakumar has said that no film of actor Mammootty has applied for the 70th National Film Awards. Padmakumar added that there are many rumours that the central government deliberately did not give the award to Mammootty, but they are false. His response was through his Facebook page.
"There has been no political interference in the announcement of the National Award. Not a single Mammootty film was sent for the National Film Awards. Many people are creating unnecessary controversy by saying that Mammootty was not given an award. Films like 'Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam' should have applied for National Award. It is wrong to say that BJP did not give National Award to Mammootty. I feel sad that not a single film of Mammootty has applied for National Award. It is wrong that a film like 'Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam' was not sent for National Award. A big opportunity for Malayalam movies was lost like this," said Padmakumar.
There have been many reports that Mammootty and Rishabh Shetty are in the final stages of the race for Best Actor at the National Film Awards. This revelation of Padmakumar rejects it all. A section of people had come forward on social media saying that Mammootty was not given the award on purpose.