New Delhi: Chidambaram's Manjummel Boys was reportedly under consideration for the National Film Awards in the categories of Best Feature Film, Best Popular Film, Best Director, and Best Production Design. However, according to sources, the jury concluded it would not be appropriate to confer an award on the film due to allegations of financial irregularities related to its production.

It is learnt that the jury's decision was influenced by a similar controversy involving a Tamil film in the previous years. The recognition given to films such as Article 370 and Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, which had faced criticism for being perceived as government propaganda, while widely acclaimed films like Manjummel Boys and Malayalam's Kishkindha Kaandam were overlooked, has sparked considerable debate in the film industry.

For the Best Actor award, Mammootty was reportedly in contention alongside Dhanush for Captain Miller and Kartik Aaryan for the Hindi film Chandu Champion. The jury is said to have described Mammootty's performance as exceptional. However, some members argued that the other two actors also deserved consideration.

As the award could not be shared among three actors due to technical rules, the contest eventually narrowed to Dhanush and Kartik Aaryan. A majority of the jury reportedly backed Kartik Aaryan, while Dhanush is understood to have been selected for a Special Jury Mention.

A similar contest reportedly unfolded in the Best Actress category, with Yami Gautam (Article 370) competing against Sai Pallavi for her performance in the Tamil film Amaran. According to sources, Yami Gautam emerged the winner by majority decision.