Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor

Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor
Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor
State award for contributions to Malayalam cinema
	Mammootty
Awarded for	Best performance by an actor in a Malayalam film
Sponsored by	Kerala State Chalachitra Academy
Reward(s)	₹100,000 (US$1,200)
First awarded	1969
Last awarded	2022
Most recent winner	Mammootty
Highlights
Total awarded	55
First winner	Sathyan
Website	keralafilm.com

The Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor is an honour, begun in 1969, presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India to an actor for best performance in a Malayalam film. Until 1997, the awards were managed directly by the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Government of Kerala. Since 1998, the awards have been constituted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, an autonomous, non-profit institution functioning under the Department of Cultural Affairs.^[1] The awardees are decided by an independent jury constituted every year.^[2] They are announced by the Minister for Cultural Affairs and are presented by the Chief Minister.^[3]

Throughout the years, accounting for ties and repeat winners, the Government of Kerala has presented a total of 55 Best Actor awards to 32 different actors. The recipients receive a figurine, a certificate, and a cash prize of ₹100,000 (US$1,200).^[4]^[5] Several actors have won the honour for more than one film in a given year. As of 2020, the only actor to have won the prize in consecutive years is Bharat Gopy, in 1982 and 1983.

The first Kerala State film Awards ceremony was held in 1970 with Sathyan receiving the award for Kadalpalam (1969). In 1981, Nedumudi Venu received the honour for his performance in various films released that year. As of 2023, Mohanlal and Mammooty are the most honoured actors with six awards each, two actors—Bharat Gopy and Murali—have won the award four times. Prithviraj Sukumaran is the youngest recipient at age 24 for Vaasthavam (2006); he replaced Mohanlal, who held this distinction for twenty years from 1986.^[a] There were four years when there was a tie for the winner—Rajit Kapur and Murali shared the honour in 1998, Fahadh Faasil and Lal in 2013, Nivin Pauly and Sudev Nair in 2014, Jayasurya and Soubin Shahir in 2018 and the most recent winners Biju Menon and Joju George in 2021.

Superlatives

Wins	Recipient(s)
6	Mohanlal Mammootty
4	Bharath Gopi Murali
3	Nedumudi Venu
2	Sathyan Adoor Bhasi Thilakan Prithviraj Sukumaran Lal Jayasurya

Winners

Mammootty has won the award six times.

Prithviraj Sukumaran pictured during an event in 2019

Prithviraj Sukumaran is the youngest recipient of the award (at age 24), for his role in Vaasthavam (2006).

†	Indicates a joint award for that year


No	Year	Image	Recipient(s)	Film(s)	Ref.
1	1969	File:Manuel Sathyaneshan.jpg	Sathyan	Kadalpalam	^[7]
2	1970		Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair	Aranazhika Neram	^[8]
3	1971	File:Manuel Sathyaneshan.jpg	Sathyan	Karakanakadal	^[9]
4	1972		Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair	Maaya	^[9]
5	1973		P. J. Antony	Nirmalyam	^[9]
6	1974		Adoor Bhasi	Chattakari	^[9]
7	1975		Sudheer	Sathyathinte Nizhalil	^[9]
8	1976		M. G. Soman	Thanal Pallavi	^[9]
9	1977		Bharat Gopy	Kodiyettam	^[9]
10	1978		Sukumaran	Bandhanam	^[9]
11	1979		Adoor Bhasi	Cheriyachante Kroorakrithyangal	^[9]
12	1980		Achankunju	Lorry	^[9]
13	1981		Nedumudi Venu	Various	^[10]
14	1982		Bharat Gopy	Ormakkayi	^[10]
15	1983		Bharat Gopy	Ente Mamattukkuttiyammakku Rachana Kattathe Kilikkoodu Eenam	^[10]
16	1984		Mammootty	Adiyozhukkukal	^[10]
17	1985		Bharat Gopy	Chidambaram	^[11]
18	1986		Mohanlal	T. P. Balagopalan M. A.	^[10]
19	1987		Nedumudi Venu	Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam	^[10]
20	1988		Premji	Piravi	^[10]
21	1989		Mammootty	Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha Mrigaya Mahayanam	^[10]
22	1990		Thilakan	Perumthachan	^[10]
23	1991		Mohanlal	Abhimanyu Ulladakkam Kilukkam	^[12]
24	1992		Murali	Aadhaaram	^[12]
25	1993		Mammootty	Vidheyan Ponthan Mada Vatsalyam	^[12]
26	1994		Thilakan	Gamanam Santhanagopalam	^[12]
27	1995		Mohanlal	Spadikam Kaalapani	^[12]
28	1996		Murali	Kaanaakkinaavu	^[12]
29	1997		Suresh Gopi	Kaliyattam	^[12]
30	1998 †		Murali	Thalolam	^[12]
30	1998 †		Rajit Kapur	Agnisakshi	^[13]
31	1999		Mohanlal	Vanaprastham	^[12]
32	2000		O. Madhavan	Sayahnam	^[14]
33	2001		Murali	Neythukaran	^[14]
34	2002		Oduvil Unnikrishnan	Nizhalkuthu	^[14]
35	2003		Nedumudi Venu	Margam	^[14]
36	2004		Mammootty	Kaazhcha	^[14]
37	2005		Mohanlal	Thanmathra	^[14]
38	2006	File:Prithviraj oil paint 2019.jpg	Prithviraj Sukumaran	Vaasthavam	^[14]
39	2007		Mohanlal	Paradesi	^[14]
40	2008		Lal	Thalappavu	^[14]
41	2009		Mammootty	Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha	^[14]
42	2010		Salim Kumar	Adaminte Makan Abu	^[14]
43	2011		Dileep	Vellaripravinte Changathi	^[14]
44	2012	File:Prithviraj oil paint 2019.jpg	Prithviraj Sukumaran	Celluloid Ayalum Njanum Thammil	^[14]
45	2013 †		Fahadh Faasil	Artist North 24 Kaatham	^[15]
45	2013 †		Lal	Ayaal Zachariayude Garbhinikal	^[15]
46	2014 †		Nivin Pauly	1983	^[16]
46	2014 †		Sudev Nair	My Life Partner	^[16]
47	2015		Dulquer Salmaan	Charlie	^[17]
48	2016		Vinayakan	Kammatipaadam	^[18]
49	2017		Indrans	Aalorukkam	^[19]
50	2018 †	File:Soubinshahir.jpg	Soubin Shahir	Sudani from Nigeria	^[20]
50	2018 †		Jayasurya	Captain Njan Marykutty	^[20]
51	2019	File:Suraj Venjaramoodu.png	Suraj Venjaramoodu	Android Kunjappan Version 5.25 Vikruthi	^[21]
52	2020		Jayasurya	Vellam
53	2021 †		Biju Menon	Aarkkariyam
53	2021 †		Joju George	Nayattu Madhuram Thuramukham Freedom Fight
54	2022		Mammootty	Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam	^[22]