Malayalam director Lijo Jose Pellissery has won the Best Director Award for the second second consecutive year at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) — this time for ‘Jallikattu’. He received the award on Thursday, at the closing ceremony of the prestigious festival.
Bestowing the award to Lijo, the jury said they honour the “intricate and complex choreography of this very original and anarchic film”. The Best Director will get the Silver Peacock Award, a citation and a cash prize of Rs 15 lakhs. Jallikattu’ was released in October and it was appreciated well by critics and movie lovers. The realistic and raw kind of film-making was one major highlight of the movie.
Prior to its release in India, ‘Jallikattu’ also travelled to Toronto International Film Festival and got recognition there. The movie is the portrait of a remote village, where a buffalo escapes and causes a frenzy of ecstatic violence. ‘Jallikattu is inspired by the short story ‘Maoist’ written by S Hareesh. Jallikattu stars Antony Varghese, Chemban Vinod Jose and Sabumon Abdusamad.
Last year, Lijo was awarded the best director at IFFI for ‘‘Ee Ma Yau’, which was a satire on death. He was awarded best director award for this movie both at The Kerala State Film Awards. The director is known for his unique way of filmmaking. His critically-allaimed movies include, Amen, Angamaly Diaries, Ee Ma Yau". He debuted with Indrajith starrer 'Nayakan' in 2011.