The 70th National Film Awards was announced on August 16, Friday, and the Malayalam film Aattam was declared the Best Feature Film at the prestigious award ceremony.
Written and directed by Anand Ekarshi, Aattam is a suspense chamber drama, starring Vinay Forrt, Kalabhavan Shajohn, Zarin Shihab and others in lead roles. As per reports, Aattam is loosely based on the famous American courtroom drama, Twelve Angry Men.
The film also stars Aji Thiruvamkulam, Jolly Antony, Madan Babu K, Nandhan Unni, Prasanth Madhavan, Sanosh Murali, Santhosh Piravom, Selvaraj Raghavan VR, and Sijin Sijeesh in key roles.
Besides Best Feature Film, Aattam also won the National Awards in the Best Editing and Best Screenplay categories.
The story of Aattam revolves around a sexual harassment accusation by the sole female member of a theatre group. She accuses a popular star of assaulting her, and while her team members initially support her, their loyalties shift after the superstar announces a potential offer to perform in Europe for a huge fee.
As the team members change sides, disturbing facts come to light, stories unravel, resulting into clamour and chaos to find out the ultimate truth.
Aattam was chosen as the opening feature film at the 54th International Film Festival of India held at Goa in 2023.
Aattam is also the recipient of several prestigious awards and honours, including Kerala Film Critics Association Award for Best Film, Kerala Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor to Kalabhavan Shajohn, and Kerala Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress to Zarin Shihab.
After a successful run at various film festivals, Aattam finally released in theatres in India on January 5, 2024. The film is now available to stream online on Amazon Prime Video.
