Who is Suhasini Maniratnam: Actor-director Suhasini Maniratnam has been appointed as the chairperson of the jury for the Kerala State Film Awards 2020. The National Award-winning actor, who is known for her work across four languages, will preside over a committee that'll judge 80 film entries for various categories.
The first round of selections started on September 28. Initially, a preliminary screening will take place, which will be led by Kannada filmmaker P Sheshadri and Malayalam director Bhadran. After this, the selected films by the duo will go to the main jury, headed by Maniratnam.
According to media reports, the main jury panel will also include cinematographer CK Muraleedharan, sound designer Harikumar Madhavan Nair, director Mohan Sithara and scriptwriter N Sasidharan.
Out of some 80 films submitted, four are children's films and the rest will include critically acclaimed films like The Great Indian Kitchen, Malik, CU Soon and Ayyappanum Koshiyum. For the best actor and actress category, stars like Fahadh Faasil, Anna Ben, Biju Menon, Parvathy Shobana and Nimisha Sajayan, are in the run.
This won't be Maniratnam's first time to be associated with the Kerala State Film Awards. Back in 1987, she won the same award in the Best Actress category for the film, Ezuthapurangal and in 2001 for Theerthadanam.
Who is Suhasini Maniratnam?
Suhasini Maniratnam is a well-known name in Southern films, for her tremendous contribution to the Tamil, Telegu, Malayalam and Kannada cinema. Although she did not begin her career in the film industry as an actor. Like many struggling actors, she chose a production job and paved her way in.
She made her debut in 1980 with a Tamil film titled Nenjathai Killathe. Then in 1983, she entered the Kannada film industry with a hit, Benkiyali Aralida Hoovu. In the same year as her entry to Kannada films, she also made her debut in Malayalam films with Padmarajan's Koodevide (1983). Her collaboration with actor Vishnuvardhan brought her both acclaim and success. The duo went on to work together in several Kannada films like Bandhana, Suprabhatha, Muthina Haara and Himapatha.
In 1991, she turned into a director with Penn- an eight-part anthology featuring actors like Revathi, Radhika and Amala. Then in 1996, she directed her first feature film Indira, starring her cousin Anu Hasan and Arvind Swami. In 2020, Maniratnam directed a segment in the Tamil language anthology Putham Pudhu Kaalai
Other than acting and directing, Suhasini runs a production company, Madras Talkies with her husband and noted filmmaker Mani Ratnam, whom she has been married to since the year 1988.
Feature image credit: Cinema Express
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