Ever since the movie ‘Peranbu’ was released, moviegoers thought that Mammootty will bad this year’s national award for the best actor. There were active discussions about this on social media. However, finally when the awards were announced on Saturday, the award for the best actor was shared by Ayushmann Khurrana and Vicky Kaushal. In the press conference, the jury chairman Rahul was quizzed by a journalist whether Mammootty was considered for the top prize for his performance in ‘Peranbu’. He gave a dodgy reply to that.

“Question about why a specific person was not awarded is a difficult question. We announced the decision of the jury. It wasn’t an easy task to select these eminent actors. Discussion regarding why one wasn’t awarded is purely subjective,” Rahul said.

Meanwhile, there were controversies regarding the selection of the film ‘Chalo Jeete Hai’ in the non-feature section. The movie was based on PM Narendra Modi’s childhood. The jury was reluctant to answer those questions as well and said they don’t know the movie was on Modi’s childhood.

In different languages, 419 movies were selected for the awards. In the last phase, there were 85 films. Malayali actors Joju George and Savithri received special mention for their performances Cinematographer M.J. Radhakrishnan was named the best cinematographer.