Actor Shammi Thilakan has taken a sarcastic dig at the government and the Film Academy over receiving invitation to the State Film Awards ceremony after the event had already concluded. In a Facebook post, he pointed out that the invitation for the programme held on Sunday reached him only on Thursday evening. He also shared an image of the invitation card he received.

Calling the incident “curious,” Shammi Thilakan wrote:

“The 55th Kerala State Film Awards have been distributed. The grand ceremony was held on Sunday evening, January 25, at Nishagandhi Auditorium, Thiruvananthapuram. But the Academy’s love-filled invitation requesting my ‘esteemed presence’ reached my hands only today—Thursday, January 29, at 5.30 pm. In short, four days after those who received the awards and those who presented them had gone back home. We all know that a courier from Thiruvananthapuram to Kollam does not take four days. So how exactly should one praise the ‘punctuality’ of the Cultural Department that sent the letter on the January 26 or 27—after the event was over? I do not wish to accuse the Cultural Affairs Minister of negligence or blame the courier company. Instead, it is the ‘art’ in this that I choose to focus on.”

At the ceremony held on Sunday, Mammootty received the Best Actor award from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The JC Daniel Award was presented to Sharada.