Thondi has won Best Film at the first Citylight TV and IRMU (Indian Reporters and Media Persons Union) Short Film Festival awards. A jury chaired by director Avira Rebecca picked the winners, reports said.
The winners
- Best Film: Thondi
- Best Second Film: Reverb
- Best Director: Albert Charles (Leo)
- Best Actor: Azad Kannadikal (Ini Oral)
- Best Actress: Raziya Mia (Rooh)
- Best Screenplay: A.S. Dasan (Uppumanga)
- Best Cinematography: Sujesh Udinur (Ullara)
- Best Editing: Ratheesh Mohan (Ullara)
- Best Background Score: Sajan K Ram (Ini Oral)
Ini Oral and Ullara each won two awards.
Awards in the festival's other categories will be announced in the coming days, and the winners will receive their awards at a formal ceremony.
Key details
Organisers: Citylight TV and the Indian Reporters and Media Persons Union (IRMU). Edition: first. Jury chair: director Avira Rebecca. Results announced: October 14, 2026. Best Film: Thondi.
How the awards were spread
The nine awards announced so far went to seven short films. Ini Oral and Ullara were the only titles to win twice, and their wins came in different areas. Ini Oral took an acting prize for Azad Kannadikal and the background score award for Sajan K Ram, while Ullara won both technical prizes, cinematography for Sujesh Udinur and editing for Ratheesh Mohan.
Thondi, the Best Film winner, did not pick up any individual craft or acting award in this first list. The Best Director prize went to Albert Charles for a different film, Leo. So the top film and the top direction award are split between two titles.
Reverb was named the second best film. The writing award went to A.S. Dasan for Uppumanga, and Raziya Mia won Best Actress for Rooh. Rooh and Uppumanga won one award each.
What comes next
The organisers said results in the remaining categories will be announced over the coming days. The winners will get their awards at a formal ceremony, and its date and venue are yet to be announced. IRMU is a union of reporters and media workers, and this is the first edition of the festival it runs with Citylight TV.
More from the industry in our news section.
