Kerala State Awards Controversy: Child Artist Devanandha Jibin Calls Out Prakash Raj For Overlooking Young Talent

Kerala State Film Awards 2025 sparked controversy soon after the winners were announced. This year, no awards were presented in the children’s film or child actor categories. Addressing this, child actor Devanandha Jibin boldly called out jury chairman Prakash Raj in an Instagram post.

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Devanandha calls out Prakash Raj for ‘ignoring’ child artist at Kerala State Awards

Posted on her Instagram handle (managed by her parents), a video shows combining Prakash Raj’s comments from the press conference with clips from her 2024 film Gu, directed by Manu Radhakrishnan and featuring Saiju Kurup.

In the caption, she wrote, “You can close your eyes to kids, but don’t say it’s all dark here. Children are also a part of this society, the jury closed its eyes with the announcement of the 2024 Malayalam Film Awards against the upcoming generation.”

Her words quickly go viral, with several voices in the Malayalam film industry, including filmmaker Vinesh Viswanath and actor Anand Manmadhan, standing by her statement.

Her post came soon after Prakash Raj stated that none of the entries this year were good enough to deserve the award.

During the official announcement, Prakash Raj stated that six films had been submitted for the Best Children’s Film category, but the jury unanimously agreed that none met the required standard for recognition.

Who is Devananda Jibin?

Devananda Jibin is a young Indian actress from Kerala, best known for playing Kalyani in the Malayalam film Malikappuram. She started her acting career with the 2019 film Thottappan and later appeared in Simon Daniel and Aranmanai 4. She was born on July 25, 2013. Her father, Jibin, works as a businessman.

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