Adaminte Makan Abu was named best feature film, Salim Kumar got the best actor award, Madhu Ambat picked up the best cinematography trophy and Issak Thomas Kottakapally got the best music director award.
National-award winning Malayalam film Adaminte Makan Abu has been chosen as India's official entry for Oscars, announced Film Federation of India. Co-produced by first-time filmmaker Salim Ahamed, the film stars Salim Kumar and Zarina Wahab.
The film tells the story of a poor attar (a
kind of perfume) seller Abu (Salim Kumar) whose only remaining wish in life is the Hajj pilgrimage, which he strives hard to fulfill, and at the verge of the fulfillment, he opts out when he fears that the means is not fully legitimate.
Apart from critical acclaim, the film also managed to bag National Award in the following categories:
Best Actor: Salim Kumar
Best Cinematography: Madhu Ambat
Best Feature Film: Salim Ahamed
Best Music Direction (Background Score): Isaac Thomas Kottukapally
The film was also hit by plagiarism trouble when filmmaker Abbas Kalathod claimed that Adaminte Makan Abu's story was taken from his short film Maruppacha released eight years prior.
According to reports, talks were on between Salim Ahamed and Karan Johar for a Hindi remake. But Karan Johar later dropped the idea.
(With inputs from PTI and Wikipedia)