Nivin Pauly’s ‘Moothon’ wins big at New York Indian Film Festival

Malayalam actor Nivin Paul’s gritty film ‘Moothon’, directed by Geethu Mohandas, was the toast of the recently-concluded New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) as it swept all the major awards including Best Film, Best Actor (Pauly) and Best Child Actor (Sanjana Dipu).

Mohandas and Pauly took to their social media pages to celebrate their international win.

“I am so happy to announce that Motion won the Best Film, Best Actor and Best Child Actor at #NYIFF last night! First International award for my beautiful actor Nivin Pauly and Sanjana Dipu. Proud of you guys and congratulations to team #Moothon,” wrote Mohandas on her Facebook page.

The critically acclaimed film made its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival and got an overwhelming reception.

“The response to the film has been fantastic and the audience has really loved it. I am really overwhelmed to be a part of such a prestigious festival and the response received has doubled my happiness. As an actor getting validation is really motivating and I am happy everyone is appreciating my performance,” said Pauly in a statement during the premiere.

Currently streaming on Zee 5 platform Zee Keralam, ‘Moothon’ also stars Roshan Matthew, Shashank Arora and Sobhita Dhulipala of ‘Made In Heaven’ fame. Director Mohandas recently revealed that actor Arora had sacrificed his original song composition.

“I felt an instant connection to his song,” said Mohandas, adding that it soon became the love theme of her film.

‘Moothon’ chronicles the troubled journey of teenager Mulla, who comes from Lakshadweep to Mumbai in search of his elder brother, Akbar. The film also explores homosexuality. It was shot in Mumbai’s red light district of Kamathipura and Lakshadweep.