'PARADISE' WINS THREE KUDOS AT KERALA STATE FILM AWARDS

Seasoned filmmaker Prasanna Vithanage's film 'Paradise' won three awardsincluding the Best Story Writer Awardat the renowned Kerala State Film Awards. It's significant that a Sri Lankan filmmaker has been awarded at the Indian film festival, which has been existing for the past 55 years.

- By Susitha Fernando

While Prasanna was awarded for the story, the film won a Special Jury Award. Its main actress Darshana Rajendran received a special mention for her work in the tragic drama set in Sri Lanka during an economic crisis.

'Paradise' was among other winners which included Asif Ali, Tovino Thomas and Jyothirmayi who won Special Jury Awards.

This year, Paradise's main actress Darshana also won the Best Actress award at the 7th Critics' 'Choice Awards' in India for her role of Amritha; the latter who arrived in Sri Lanka seeking peace despite the island undergoing economic crisis and wakes up to a completely different destiny. At the same festival, Sri Lankan actor Mahendra Perera was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor's award.