State award a big surprise for child actor Davinci

Karupadanna: On Friday afternoon, just before the final bell, Davinci’s school teacher informed him of his big win at the Kerala State Film Awards 2022. Master Davinci Santosh was conferred with the award for the best child actor for his performance in the movie ‘Pallotty 90’s kids’. The movie, directed by Jithin Raj, also won the award for the best children’s movie. 

Davinci who is a class 9 student at the Karupadanna high school had not realised the ‘magnitude’ of his win until news reporters thronged his house. “I am very happy,” said the child artist.

Davinci made his entry into acting through the ‘Vennalthumbi Kathajatha’ of ‘Balasangham’. He has acted in several plays. At the age of 8, he acted in a short film titled ‘Pallotty’. The short film was an instant hit and Davinci received offers from several movies. He has acted in several movies including Varyan,  Lonappante Mammodisa, and Kaadakalam. It should be noted that ‘Kaadakalm’ won the state award for the best children’s movie last year.  

Davinci remained the first choice to play the lead character when ‘Pallotty’ was made into a full length feature film. An ardent fan of football, Davinci now has 17 movies to his credit. His father’s brother, professional theatre actor Satheesh K Kunnath is Davinci’s mentor. Satheeshan, had won the award for the second best actor at the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy awards in 2012.