Viewers have been raising a few questions about the recently concluded 19th Asianet Film Awards 2017 on social media. 

  • Was it actually an award show to honour the best performers in Mollywood or Pulimurugan's success meet?
  • Why did Nivin Pauly even attempt a "comedy" skit?
  • How could the jury ignore movies like Maheshinte Prathikaram, Kammatipaadam and Guppy?

Check winners of Vanitha Cera Film Awards 2017

The netizens are lashing out at Asianet MD K Madhavan and jury members for giving away almost all awards to either Pulimurugan or Oppam team without even considering Dulquer Salmaan's Kammatipaadam, Tovino Thomas' Guppy or Fahadh Faasil's Maheshinte Prathikaram.

Pulimurugan won Best Actor, Best Villain, Best Supporting Actress, Popular Movie, Best Editor and Special Jury Awards. Superstar Mohanlal was also spotted performing the movie stunts live for the audience. Though many have appreciated the actor for pulling off such stunts, but some have been asking why Mohanlal is given more importance in all Asianet award shows.

Except the tiger in Pulimurugan, almost all the crew, even the ones who sold the black tickets seemed eligible for Asianet Film Awards, netizens said.

Even though actor Vinayakan was one of the nominees in the category for Best Supporting Actor, the award was given to Renji Panicker for his performance in Jacobinte Swargarajyam. This has irked many, who claim Vinayakan's performance in Kammatipaadam makes him deserving for even Best Actor category. 

"Was Manju Warrier deserving to win the Best Actress award for Karinkunnam 6s and Vettah?" asks few others, who felt Sai Pallavi should have got the award. However, Maheshinte Prathikaram received few awards including Critics Award for Best Film, Best Character Actress (Anusree) and Best New Face (Aparna Balamurali), while Dulquer was accorded Critics Award for Best Actor for his performance in Rajeev Ravi's critically-acclaimed Kammatipaadam.

Audience response

"I do not understand why these award shows are conducted these days? These channels are just bothered about their TRP ratings and as a result awards will be given to celebs with star value. The Asianet Award show was purely Pulimurugan show with every crew member getting some award. Without honouring the best performers, what's the whole purpose of these shows?," asks Manoj Krishnan.

"Last year it was Mohanlal's Lalettan at 36 that was criticised by the audience, now he has handed over the the baton to Nivin Pauly, who performed the worst skit this year. None of the entertainment programmes in Asianet Award show were "entertaining", and I couldn't watch it till the end," Amrudha Philip rued.

"Thankfully I didn't waste the Sunday by watching Asianet Awards as I knew it was a flop show on the first day itself," Minu Vinu says.

CPC Cine Awards 2016

However, in an attempt to honor the eligible best performers in Malayalam without considering their star value, the popular Facebook page Cinema Paradiso Club has announced the winners of second edition of CPC Cine Awards 2016 with Vinayakan, Sai Pallavi and Rajisha Vijayan bagging the Best Actor awards. Meanwhile, director Dileesh Pothan's Maheshinte Prathikaram has won as many as five awards. Kammatipaadam and Guppy were also honoured.

Check out full winners' list of 19th Asianet Film Awards here:

Best Actor - Mohanlal for Oppam and Pulimurugan
Best Actress - Manju Warrier for Karinkunnam 6s and Vettah
Best Supporting Actress - Sethulekshmi for Pulimurugan
Best Supporting Actor - Renji Panicker for Jacobinte Swargarajyam
Best Villain - Jagapathi Babu for Pulimurugan
Best Character Actress - Anusree for Maheshinte Prathikaram
Best Pair - Asif Ali and Rajisha Vijayan for Anuraga Karikkin Vellam
Popular Actor - Nivin Pauly for Action Hero Biju and Jacobinte Swargarajyam,
Popular Actress - Sai Pallavi for Kali
Best Film - Oppam
Best Director - Abrid Shine for Action Hero Biju
Best New Face - Aparna Balamurali and Gokul Suresh for Maheshinte Prathikaram and Mudhugauv, respectively.
Best Popular movie - Pulimurugan
Best Comedian - Sharafudheen for Happy Wedding, Paavada
Best Child Artiste - Master Rudraksh Sudheesh for Kochavva Paulo Ayyappa Coelho
Best Scriptwriters - Vishnu Unnikrishnan and Bibin George for Kattappanayile Rithwik Roshan
Best Editor - Johnkutty for Pulimurugan
Best Music Director - 4 Musicz for Oppam
Best Lyricist - BK Narayanan for Oppam
Popular Duet of the year - Thiruvaavani Ravu - Unni Menon and Sithara for Jacobinte Swargarajyam
Lifetime achievement Award - MT Vasudevan Nair
Special Jury Award - Peter Hein [Action Master in Pulimurugan]
Sijoy Varghese for James & Alice
Youth Icon- Vineeth Sreenivasan
Multifaceted personality of the year - Mukesh
Critics award for Best Actor - Dulquer Salmaan for Kammatipaadam
Critics Award for Best Film - Maheshinte Prathikaaram
Popular Tamil Actress of the year: Tamanaah for Devi (L).

Check out the funny memes on Asianet Film Awards here:

Asianet team to Tiger: The award night is over. No award for you. Leave.
Tiger:  Can I take this shawl before I leave, else my wife will think I was not part of the movie.

Girl: Why the sticker?
Asianet: Just show this and you will get an award.

Even Tamannaah, who won the Popular Tamil Actress award was not spared by the netizens, who made fun of her blue fairytale attire.  

Harisree Ashokan: Eldho, you have won an award for selling Pulimurugan's ticket in black
Cochin Haneefa: What?!!!

Jojo: Haven't you heard about him?
Women: Oh yes, we have seen his performance in Asianet Awards

Audience to Asianet MD: These are the DVDs of recently released good movies in Malayalam. Please watch when you get time