The Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress is an honour presented annually at the

Kerala State Film Awards The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have been bestowed by Kerala State Ch ...

of India since 1969 to an actress for the best performance within the Malayalam film industry. Until 1997, the awards were managed directly by the Department of Cultural Affairs,

Government of Kerala Government of Kerala is the subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision ...

. Since 1998, the

Kerala State Chalachitra Academy Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Cana ...

, an autonomous non-profit organisation functioning under the Department of Cultural Affairs, has been exercising control over the awards. The awardees, decided by an independent jury formed by the academy, are declared by the Minister for Cultural Affairs and are presented by the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

. The 1st Kerala State Film Awards ceremony was held in 1970 with

Sheela Sheela Ravichandran (Born 22 March 1945) is an Indian actress and director who appears predominantly in Malayalam cinema. Paired with Prem Nazir, they hold the Guinness World Record for acting in the largest number of films (130) together as ...

receiving the Best Actress award for her role in ''

Kallichellamma ''Kallichellamma'' is a 1969 Indian Malayalam-language film, directed by P. Bhaskaran. It is based on the novel of the same name by G. Vivekanandan. The film stars Prem Nazir, Madhu, Sheela and Adoor Bhasi. It was released on 22 August 1969. She ...

'' (1969). The following year, Sharada was recognised for her performances in two films''

Thriveni ''Thriveni'' is a 1970 Indian Malayalam-language film, directed by A. Vincent and produced by C. V. Sridhar via Chitralaya, the company's only film in the language. The film stars Sathyan, Prem Nazir, Sharada, Savita G. Thampi and Kaviyoor ...

'' and ''

Thara Thara may refer to: * Terah, father of Abraham * Thara (1970 film), ''Thara'' (1970 film), a 1970 Indian Malayalam film * Thara, Gujarat, a town in north Gujarat, India * Thara Ak-Var, a DC Comics character * Thara Prashad (born 1982), American si ...

''. 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 of Kerala has presented a total of 51 Best Actress awards to 34 different actresses.

Urvashi Urvashi ( sa, उर्वशी, Urvaśī}) is the most prominent apsara (celestial nymph) in Hindu mythology, considered to be the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert dancer. She is mentioned in both ''Vedic'' and '' Puranic'' s ...

has been the most frequent winner in this category, with five awards. She is followed by Sheela and

Srividya Srividya (24 July 1953 – 19 October 2006), also known as Sreevidya, was an Indian actress best known for her work predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films, along with few Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films. In a career spanning for 40 years, ...

with three awards each. As of 2018, nine actresses

Jayabharathi Jayabharathi is an Indian actress. She is a two-time recipient of the Kerala State Film Award for best actress. Jayabharathi's first leading role was given by director P. Bhaskaran for his movie Kattukurangu in 1969. Later she became one of ...

Seema Seema may refer to: Films * ''Seema'' (1955 film), a Hindi film * ''Seema'' (1971 film), a Hindi film People * Lehlohonolo Seema (born 1980), football (soccer) player from Lesotho *Seema (actress) (born 1957), Indian film actress * Seema Aissen We ...

Samyuktha Varma Samyuktha Varma (born 26 November 1979) is a former Indian actress who was active in Malayalam films from 1999 to 2002. She made her debut in 1999 as female lead in the movie '' Veendum Chila Veettukaryangal'' for which she won her first Kerala ...

, Suhasini Maniratnam,

Navya Nair Navya Nair is an Indian actress who has appeared predominantly in Malayalam films, along with others in Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of ...

, Meera Jasmine, Kavya Madhavan, Shweta Menon and Parvathy Thiruvothu have won the award two times in their careers. The 2005 ceremony was the only occasion when the category was tied; Kavya Madhavan and Geetu Mohandas shared the award, while the former for her performance in '' Perumazhakkalam'' and the latter for the films '' Akale'' and '' Oridam'' respectively.

Anna Ben Anna Ben is an Indian actress who works in Malayalam cinema. The daughter of screenwriter Benny P. Nayarambalam, she made her acting debut with ''Kumbalangi Nights'' in 2019. Anna has since starred in the dramas ''Helen'' (2019) and ''Kappel ...

, won the award for her role in ''

Kappela ''Kappela'' () is a 2020 Indian Malayalam-language social drama film written and directed by Muhammad Musthafa (in his directorial debut). Movie produced by Vishnu Venu Under his banner Kadhaas Untold. Starring Anna Ben, Sreenath Bhasi, and ...

'' in 2020 and the recent recipient of the award is

Revathi Asha Kelunni Nair (born 8 July 1966), better known by her stage name Revathi, is an Indian actress and director, known for her works predominantly in Tamil & Malayalam cinema - in addition to Telugu, Hindi & Kannada films. She has won severa ...

, for the film Bhoothakaalam in 2021.

Superlatives

Winners

References

External links

Official website

Department of Cultural Affairs

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerala State Film Award For Best Actress Kerala State Film Awards Film awards for lead actress

Superlatives

Winners

See also

References

External links