Thiruvananthapuram | Amid doubts raised by cinema enthusiasts on social media over the national film award jury completely overlooking the Malayalam movie, ‘Aadu Jeevitham’ (The Goat Life) starring Prithviraj, Kerala General Education Minister V Sivankutty raised the same question on his social media page on Sunday.
In a Facebook post, Sivankutty said, “I like Shah Rukh Khan. But in my opinion, Prithviraj’s performance in ‘Aadu Jeevitham’ is the best.”
“How did the movie get completely ignored,” he asks in the post, doubting a political leaning in the jury’s decision.
Sivankutty was the first political leader from the state who slammed the jury for giving the best director award to Sudipto Sen, director of ‘The Kerala Story,’ a controversial film which was criticised for its 'anti-Muslim propaganda’ aimed at tarnishing the image of the state.
‘Aadu Jeevitham,’ directed by Blessy, had received critical acclaim and was a huge success at the box office. Prithviraj’s performance in the film was also lauded by critics and viewers alike, who had felt he was in contention for the best actor award.
Earlier this year, the film, ‘Empuraan’ starring Mohanlal and directed by Prithviraj had run into problems with the Central Board of Film Certification) for its portrayal of the Gujarat riots.
The film had to be re-censored and released again after several cuts and alterations after Sangh Parivar outfits came out into the open against it.
RSS mouthpiece, Organiser, had then opined that the Prithviraj film used the 2002 Gujarat riots to ‘push an anti-Hindu political agenda.’
