Indian actress Meenakshi Jayan has won the Best Actress award in the Asian New Talent category at the 27th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) Golden Goblet Awards. She was honoured for her role in the Malayalam film Victoria, which was also the only Indian film selected for competition at this year’s festival, which concluded on Sunday.
Directed by debutant Sivaranjini J, Victoria tells the story of a young beautician from Angamaly, a small town in Kerala, who is planning to run away with her Hindu boyfriend, defying her Catholic parents’ wishes. However, her plans take an unexpected turn when a neighbour’s rooster, meant for a church festival, disrupts her day. What follows is a mix of emotional, personal, and spiritual challenges, all playing out over the course of a single day.
Meenakshi’s powerful and realistic performance in Victoria has already won her praise in India. She earlier bagged the Best Performer award at the Independent and Experimental Film Festival Kerala (IEFFK). Her performance is being praised for its honesty and the depth she brings to the character.
In an earlier interview, Meenakshi shared that she spent two months working at a local beauty parlour to prepare for the role. To make her character even more authentic, she also worked with a dialect coach to perfect the local Angamaly accent.
Victoria was produced by the Kerala State Film Development Corporation as part of its Women Empowerment Grant. The film first premiered at the 29th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), where it won the FIPRESCI Award for Best Malayalam Film by a Debut Director.
At the Shanghai festival, other major winners in the Asian New Talent section included the Chinese film As the Water Flows, which won Best Film, and Liryc Dela Cruz, who won Best Director for Where the Night Stands Still, an Italy-Philippines collaboration. Shi Pengyuan won Best Actor for Water Can Go Anywhere, another Chinese film.
In the main competition, the first prize for Best Feature Film went to Black Red Yellow from Kyrgyzstan. The Jury Grand Prix was shared between Japan’s On Summer Sand and China’s Wild Nights, Tamed Beasts. Wan Qian, from Wild Nights, Tamed Beasts, was named Best Actress, while Jose Martins won Best Actor for The Scent of Things Remembered, a co-production between Portugal and Brazil.
Meenakshi Jayan’s win adds to the growing recognition of Indian independent cinema on global platforms.