Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress

Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress
Awarded forBest performance by an actress in a Malayalam film
Sponsored byKerala State Chalachitra Academy
First awarded1969; 55 years ago (1969)
Last awarded2023
Highlights
Total awarded52
First winnerSheela
Most AwardsUrvashi (5)
Last winnerVincy Aloshious (2023)
Websitewww.keralafilm.com

The Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India since 1969 to an actress for the best performance within the Malayalam film industry.[1] Until 1997, the awards were managed directly by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala. Since 1998, the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, an autonomous non-profit organisation functioning under the Department of Cultural Affairs, has been exercising control over the awards.[2] The awardees, decided by a jury formed by the academy,[3] are declared by the Minister for Cultural Affairs and are presented by the Chief Minister.[4]

The 1st Kerala State Film Awards ceremony was held in 1970 with Sheela receiving the Best Actress award for her role in Kallichellamma (1969).[5][6] The following year, Sharada was recognised for her performances in two films—Thriveni and Thara. Since then, several actresses have been awarded for more than one film during a year.

Throughout the years, accounting for ties and repeat winners, the government has presented a total of 54 Best Actress awards to 38 different actresses. Urvashi has been the most frequent winner, with five awards.[7] She is followed by Sheela and Srividya with three awards each. As of 2023, nine actresses—Jayabharathi, Seema, Samyuktha Varma, Suhasini Maniratnam, Navya Nair, Meera Jasmine, Kavya Madhavan, Shweta Menon and Parvathy Thiruvothu have won the award two times. The 2005 ceremony was the only occasion when the category was tied; Kavya Madhavan and Geetu Mohandas shared the award for their performances in Perumazhakkalam, and Akale and Oridam respectively. The most recent recipient of the award is Vincy Aloshious, for the film Rekha in 2023.

  1. ^ Chandran, Baiju (16 January 2014). "The original super star". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 3 July 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  2. ^ Festival Book. Kerala State Chalachitra Academy. 2004. p. 8. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016.
  3. ^ India Today International. Living Media India Limited. 1999. p. 52. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  4. ^ "Sweta Menon's daughter hogs limelight at State Film Awards". Sify. Archived from the original on 2 November 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  5. ^ Vijayakumar, B (18 January 2015). "Kallichellamma: 1969". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 May 2017. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  6. ^ Cultural Heritage of Kerala. D.C. Books. 2008. ISBN 978-81-264-1903-6. Archived from the original on 19 May 2016.
  7. ^ Sangeeta (16 February 2007). "Memorable characters". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 5 June 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2015.