Deva Nandha, a child actor who won a lot of praise for her moving performance in Malikappuram, has publicly criticized the Kerala State Film Awards jury, led by actor Prakash Raj, for ignoring children's movies and young actors in this year's awards.
Deva took to Instagram to say how angry she was that the jury was "blind" to the work of child artists in 2024.
"Close Your Eyes..."
In response to Prakash Raj's claim that the jury wanted to "encourage more children's films," Deva Nandha wrote, "You can close your eyes, but don't say that all you see is darkness. The jury has also ignored a whole generation that is yet to come by announcing the 2024 Malayalam Cinema Awards.
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She said that not giving child actors credit for their work went against the jury's claim that they wanted to promote young talent.
"Not by Denying Two Kids an Award..."
Deva pointed out that many young actors did great work in movies like Sthanaarthi Sreekuttan, Gu, Phoenix, and Ajayante Randam Moshanam, but none of them got any awards. "It doesn't help to deny two kids an award if you want to make more kids' movies." She wrote, "If those two kids had been recognized, it could have given a lot of other kids energy and inspiration."
The actor said he was very disappointed and that it was sad to see the jury chairman talk about kids' movies without recognizing their rights and artistic efforts.
A Call for Change and Talk
Deva ended her note by asking the film community to start talking about the issue in public: "Everyone, including the media, filmmakers, and the general public, should talk about this. Change shouldn't happen by taking away rights; it should happen while protecting them.
Filmmakers Support Deva
Deva Nandha's words have started a conversation in the Malayalam film industry, and many other filmmakers agree with her.
Vineesh Viswanath, the director of Sthanaarthi Sreekuttan, and Anand Manmadhan, an actor and writer, both spoke out against the jury's decision. Anand said,
"So, the judges decided that no child actor was good enough." I had to respond when I saw the statement that said there were no good performances by child artists last year. Vineesh Viswanath also posted a picture of his movie's poster with the caption, "In a world where there are supposedly no good entries in the 'Best Child Actor' category, these kids stand tall with their heads held high."
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