Shaji, Ranjith, Mammootty, Meera bag Asiavision awards

Pranchiyettan and the Saint' directed by Ranjith was adjudged the best film and Shaji N Karun was chosen best director for his film `Kuttysrank' in the fourth Asiavision awards which were announced here today. The awards are instituted by Asiavision, a Dubai-based advertising company. Mammootty was chosen as the best actor and Meera Jasmine best female actor. Sreenivasan was selected for the lifetime achievement award while M G Sreekumar won the award for best music director. The awardees were chosen through popular votes by film lovers across the world on the Asiavision website, Sebastian Joseph of Amalia perfumes, one of the sponsors of the awards, said. Nissar Syed of Asiavision was also present. Other awardees are: Siddique (supporting actor), Kalpana (supporting actress), Anne Augustine (new face of the year), Innocent (outstanding performance), Karthik, Swetha Menon (singers) and Vineeth Sreenivasan (debut director). Asiavision would also honour Tamil actor Arya, Academy award winner Resul Pookutty, popular director Shankar (enthiran) and singer Benny Dayal at the award nite to be held at Sharjah cricket stadium on November 5, Syed said. The cash prizes attached to the awards would be announced later by the various sponsors of the event, he said.

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I'm like a hard working farmer: Mammootty

Malayalam superstar Mammootty compares himself to a "hard working farmer" who just cares about his work and hopes for the best.

"I am like a farmer. A farmer always works hard in his field and his only prayer is that his crop should be a bumper one. Similarly, I always put in my very best and then wait hopefully like the farmer," Mammootty told in an interview on the sets of his latest movie August 15.

The film is being shot at the plush Technopark campus here.

"The success of a film is always a combination of many people's efforts. I believe in the theory that one cannot make a good film, it just happens," Mammootty said.

"I honestly don't feel any greatness at all. It is just simple and that is because I do work really hard," he said.

Mammootty also said he was very careful about choosing his films.

"A good deal of my effort goes into the selection of films because these things cannot be just predicted; so I am careful about the movies I finally do. Next year too I will have four or five films where I play different roles," he said.

Asked about a hospital project in Bangalore he is reportedly part of, Mammootty said: "I am not into the project. My son and daughter are into a boutique hospital, Motherhood, in Bangalore, which will soon open. I have no role in that."
He said his business interests include a distribution company called Playhouse, and he is hopeful of venturing into film production next year.


"Hopefully it (production) should happen next year. It would not just be limited to my films," he said.

Does he have plans to direct as well?

"Right now, I know one job, with which I am fine," he said, smiling.

The superstar, who turned 57 last month, was dismissive of reported problems in the Malayalam film industry.

"Tell me one industry where there are no problems. Whatever problems are there are similar to the problems faced elsewhere," he said.

Speaking about his role in "August 15", he said it was based on the film "August 1", which released 22 years ago.

"I play Perumal, a police officer, and the film is an investigative thriller. Repeating a character makes it easy because in the new film, this character need not be introduced again. This film has a totally different script," he said.

So what does the veteran of three decades feel about working with heroines much younger to him?

"Thank you very much," he said, ducking the question. "Our interview is over and we are breaking for lunch!"

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Pranchiyettan & crew to celebrate fifty days at Thrissur

The cast and crew of the hit film 'Pranchiyettan and the Saint' would celebrate the completion of fifty days at Lulu Convention Centre at Thrissur.

Producer and director Ranjith said that almost everyone associated with the film would attend the function.

'Pranchiyettan and the Saint' that had a slow start, had gradually turned out to be the black horse among the Ramzan releases, with a steady increase in collections. In major centres like Trivandrum, Cochin, Thrissur and Calicut the weekend shows as the film crosses fifty days registered full houses.

The film that has been well received by the viewers has turned out be critically acclaimed as well.

Starring Mammootty, Priyamani, Khushboo, Siddiq, Innocent, Ganapathy, Tini Tom, Jagathy, and foreign actor Jesse Fox Allen, the film has turned out to be one of the most talked about ones in recent times.

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