Trivandrum: The jury meeting for News18 Kerala’s Malayali Of The Year 2020 award was held in Thiruvananthapuram. Malayali of the Year has been conceptualized by News18 as a platform to felicitate icons whose contributions have strengthened the state and society in Kerala. The initiative has adhered to a robust selection procedure. Nominations were invited from the public between Jan 6th & Jan 16th, 2020. In addition, the jury was also free to nominate any other person(s) for the award.
The jury comprised the following members
1) Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Filmmaker (Jury Chair)
2) Justice Kemal Pasha, Retired High Court Judge
3) G Vijayaraghavan, Ex-CEO Technopark
4) A Jayashankar, Senior Lawyer
5) James Joseph, Founder, Jackfruit 365
6) Dr. Jancy James, Ex-Vice Chancellor, Central University of Kerala
7) Madhupal, Actor/Director
8) Jaisamma Moothedan, Former Volleyball Player
The meeting was held at the office of News18 Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram on Feb 11, 2020. Adoor Gopalakrishnan officiated as the jury chair. As a representative of the management, the jury meeting was also attended by Rajeev Devaraj, Editor, News18 Kerala. After rigorous discussion the jury has finalised the awardees for the following categories.
1) Malayali Of The Year 2020 – This is our flagship award and seeks to recognise key contributions to the state/society/public in the past year. [Previous Awardees – Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister (2018), Women In Cinema Collective (2019)]
2) Malayali Of The Year Lifetime Achievement – This is award seeks to recognise individuals who have made key contributions to their specific fields over their careers. [Previous Awardees – MT Vasudevan Nair, Writer & Madhavan Nair, Actor (2018)]
3) Malayali Of The Year (Sports) – This award recognises achievements by Malayali sportspersons in the past year. All fields of sports were considered. [Previous Awardees – P U Chithra, Athlete (2018), Jinson Johnson, Cricketer (2019)]
4) Malayali Of The Year (Literature & Arts) – This award is constituted to recognise exceptional achievements by writers/poets and artists. [Previous Awardees – Manu S Pillai, Writer (2019), Deepan Sivaraman, Theatre Personality (2019).
5) Malayali Of The Year (Entertainment) – This award specifically recognises significant work in traditional and modern entertainment art forms, including cinema. [Previous Awardees – Surabhi Lakshmi, Actress (2018), Lijo Jose Pellissery, Director (2019)]
6) Malayali Of The Year (NRK) –The award is for non-resident Malayalis who have made Kerala and India proud at the international stage. [Previous Awardees – M A Yusuf Ali (2018)]
7) Malayali Of The Year (Innovation) – The intent of this award (introduced this year) is to recognise entrepreneurs and inventors who have introduced innovative & successful business ideas/products. We feel this award is in line with Kerala’s reputation as a start-up friendly state.
