Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Malayalam

The Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Malayalam is presented annually by Filmfare magazine as part of its Filmfare Awards South ceremony, honoring excellence in Malayalam cinema. The award was instituted in 1972 and is determined by a jury.^[1][2]

Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Malayalam
Mammootty in 2022
Awarded for	Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in Malayalam Films
Country	India
Presented by	Filmfare
First award	Madhu, Swayamvaram (1972)
Currently held by	Mammootty, Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam (2023)
Highlights
Most awards	Mammootty (13)
Total awarded	48
First winner	Madhu
Website	filmfare.com

The inaugural recipient of the award was Madhu for his performance in Swayamvaram (1972). As of 2023, Mammootty holds the record for the most wins in this category, with 13 awards. He is also the most recent recipient, having won the award in 2023.^[3]

Superlatives

Superlative	Actor	Record
Actor with most awards	Mammootty	13
Oldest winner	Premji	81
Oldest nominee
Youngest winner	Kamal Haasan	20
Youngest nominee

• Mammootty holds the record for the most wins in the category, with 13 awards. He is the only actor to have won the award in five separate decades: the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s. He also holds the record for receiving nominations across all five decades.
• Premji and Mammootty are the only actors to have received the award for portraying real-life individuals. Premji remains the only actor to win the award for a debut performance.
• Mohanlal holds the record for the most consecutive wins, having received the award three years in a row from 1993 to 1995. Other actors who have won in consecutive years include Madhu (1976–1977), Pratap Pothen (1979–1980), Bharat Gopy (1982–1983), Mammootty (1984–1985, 1990–1991, 1998–1999, 2009–2010, and 2014–2015), and Fahadh Faasil (2012–2013).
• Fahadh Faasil has received the award three times within six years, for 22 Female Kottayam (2012), North 24 Kaatham (2013), and Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum (2017).
• Kamal Haasan remains the youngest recipient of the award, having won at the age of 20 for his performance in Kanyakumari (1974).
• In decade-wise distribution, Kamal Haasan and Madhu each received two awards in the 1970s. In the 1980s, Bharat Gopi, Mammootty, and Mohanlal received two awards each. Mammootty and Mohanlal led the 1990s with three wins each. Mammootty and Fahadh Faasil led with three wins each.

Multiple winners

• 13 Wins: Mammootty
• 08 Wins: Mohanlal
• 03 Wins: Madhu, Jayaram, Fahadh Faasil
• 02 Wins: Kamal Hassan, Pratap Pothen

Winners

Mammootty has won the award thirteen times.

Kamal Haasan is the youngest recipient of the award (at age 20), for his role in Kanyakumari (1974).

Year	Recipient	Role	Film(s)	Ref.
1972	Madhu	Vishwam	Swayamvaram	[4][5]
1973	P. J. Antony	Velichapad	Nirmalayam	[6]
1974	Kamal Haasan	Sankaran	Kanyakumari	[7]
1975	Adoor Bhasi	Vishwanatha Menon	Raagam	[8]
1976	Madhu	Vinod	Theekkanal	[9]
1977			Yuddha Kaandam	[10]
1978	Kamal Haasan	Ramu	Yaetta	[11]
1979	Prathap Pothan	Thakara	Thakara	[12]
1980		Vinod	Chamaram	[13]
1981	Nedumudi Venu	Xavier	Vida Parayum Munpe	[14]
1982	Bharath Gopi	Nandagopal	Ormakkayi	[15]
1983		Prof. Shakespeare Krishna Pillai	Kattathe Kilikkoodu	[16]
1984	Mammootty	Karunan	Adiyozhukkukal	[17]
1985		Unnikrishnan	Yathra	[17]
1986	Mohanlal	Gopalakrishna Panikkar	Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam	[18]
1987	Nedumudi Venu	Ravunni Nair	Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam	[19][20]
1988	Mohanlal	*Soap Kuttappan *Maathu Pandaaram	Padamudra	[21]
1989	Premji	Raghava Chakyar	Piravi	[22][23][24]
1990	Mammootty	Vaikom Muhammad Basheer	Mathilukal	[25]
1991		Achootty	Amaram	[26]
1992	Murali	Bapputty	Aadharam	[27]
1993	Mohanlal	Mangalassery Neelakantan	Devaasuram	[28]
1994		Unnikrishnan	Pavithram	[29]
1995		Thomas "Aadu Thoma" Chacko	Sphadikam	[30]
1996	Jayaram	Mohanachandran Podhuval	Thooval Kottaram	[31]
1997	Mammootty	Vidyadharan	Bhoothakkannadi	[32]
1998	Balachandra Menon	Ismail	Samaantharangal	[33]
1999	Mohanlal	Kunjukuttan	Vanaprastham	[34]
2000	Mammootty	Raveendranath Menon	Arayannagalude Veedu	[35]
2001	Jayaram	Karunakaran	Theerthadanam	[36]
2002	Dileep	Meesa Madhavan	Meesa Madhavan	[37]
2003	Jayaram	Reji	Manassinakkare	[38]
2004	Mammootty	Madhavan	Kaazhcha	[39]
2005	Mohanlal	Ramesan Nair	Thanmathra	[40]
2006	Mammootty	Murugan	Karutha Pakshikal	[41][40]
2007	Mohanlal	Valiyakathu Moosa	Paradesi	[42]
2008	Lal	S. Raveendran Pillai	Thalappavu	[43]
2009	Mammootty	• Murikkum Kunnathu Ahmed Haji  • Haridas Ahmed  • Khalid Ahmed	Paleri Manikyam	[44]
2010		Chirammal Enashu Francis	Pranchiyettan & the Saint
2011	Salim Kumar	Abu	Adaminte Makan Abu	[45]
2012	Fahadh Faasil	Cyril C. Mathew	22 Female Kottayam	[46]
2013		Harikrishnan	North 24 Kaatham	[47]
2014	Mammootty	P. K. Venugopal	Varsham	[48]
2015		Pallikkal Narayanan	Pathemari	[49]
2016	Nivin Pauly	Biju Poulose	Action Hero Biju	[50]
2017	Fahadh Faasil	Prasad	Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum	[51]
2018	Joju George	Joseph	Joseph	[52]
2020 - 2021	Biju Menon	SI Ayyappan Nair	Ayyappanum Koshiyum	[53]
2022	Kunchacko Boban	Kozhummal Rajeevan	Nna Thaan Case Kodu	[54]
2023	Mammootty	James/Sundaram	Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam	[55]