No awards for children’s cinema at Kerala State Film Awards spark row

The decision of the 55th Kerala State Film Awards jury to not give any award in the children’s film category kicked up a storm on Tuesday (November 4, 2025) with questions being raised on why the jury chose to overlook possible worthy contenders such as Sthanarthi Sreekuttan directed by Vinesh Viswanath.

Sharing a still image of the child actors from the film on his Facebook page, Mr. Viswanath wrote “In a world of no worth entries for best child actor, they stand tall”.

The film, which revolves around an upper primary school in Thiruvananthapuram, shows how a class does away with the conventional row-based seating arrangement in favour of a semi-circle arrangement with the teacher in the centre. The popular climactic sequence led to several schools in Kerala adopting the seating arrangement in the film.

“I am saddened not that my film was not selected, but at the fact that the jury decided to not award any film in the category. We should be told as to the norms under which the jury decided that none of the performances by child actors in 2024 were deserving of an award. We have had memorable performances by child actors in films such as Kishkindha Kaandam and ARM last year,” Mr. Viswanath told The Hindu.

Child actor Devananda, in a Facebook post, accused the jury of turning a blind eye to a young generation of actors.

For the second consecutive year, the jury decided to not award any children’s film, although last year child actors had won awards. The jury, headed by actor-filmmaker Prakash Raj, observed that although six children’s films were submitted, “none of them were from a child’s viewpoint.”

“We request the film fraternity to please think of making children’s films. Children are a part of society and we need to know what children think and what they understand. Just casting a few children is not enough to make it a children’s cinema. None of the films submitted talked about children’s perceptions. Even in the other films in which child actors were cast, they were not speaking their age,” said Mr. Prakash Raj at the press conference to announce the awards in Thrissur on Monday (November 3, 2025).

Minister’s stance

Meanwhile, Minister for Cultural Affairs Saji Cherian said the jury’s opinion was that no children’s film worthy of award came before it. The government would intervene to ensure that more children’s films of quality are produced. A meeting will be held with industry stakeholders to discuss the issue.