Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 27 (IANS): Popular actor Jayasurya shared the best actor Kerala State Film Award along with upcoming actor Soubin Shahir, while Nimisha Sajayan walked away with the best actress honour here.

State Minister for Cinema A.K. Balan on Wednesday announced the 49th Kerala State Film Awards.

For Jayasurya, this is the first state award that he is getting for best actor. He has won it for his roles in "Captain" and "Njan Marykutty", while Shahir got it for his stellar performance in the film "Sudani from Nigeria", which was his first full-length lead role.

Sajayan shot into prominence after her 2017 film "Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum", and after that she has had her hands full. She got the award for her performance in the films "Chola" and "Oru Kuprasidha Payan".

Happy and excited about the honour, Sajayan said: "I owe this award to my co-stars who strongly supported me in the sets. It was only because of that I could do well and win this."

The best film award went to "Kanthan - The Lover of Colour", directed by Sherief. It tells the tale of Adivasis.

The best director's award was bagged by veteran film maker Shyamaprasad for his film "Oru Njayarazhcha", which even bagged the second best film award.

K.U. Mohan bagged the best cameraman award for his work in the film "Carbon", while Vijay Yesudas, son of legendary singer K.J. Yesudas, won the best male singer award. The best female playback singer award was won Shreya Ghoshal.