Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 10 (IANS): It was an award that never actually came for seven-time Kerala State Film Award winning cinematographer, M.J. Radhakrishnan. When the national film awards were announced on Friday, his name figured, but he is no longer around to hear the news.

It was last month that the 60-year-old cameraman suffered a cardiac arrest at his home here and passed away while on way to the hospital.

Today he was given the national award for the best cameraman for his work in the film 'Olu' directed by another award winning personality, Shaji N. Karun.

Speaking to IANS, Yedu Radhakrishnan, his 26-year-old son, who was also his assistant in the same film, said the only wish they had was he should have been with the family.

"We did not know how to react... my mother for a while did not know what to say. We really wished he was here... he expected the national honour," said Yedu.

The late Radhakrishnan had helmed films such as 'Deshadanam', 'Karunam' and 'Naalu Pennungal' to name a few.

In a career spanning over a quarter of a century, Radhakrishnan helmed 75 films, besides numerous documentaries. He also worked for internationally acclaimed filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan.