Director Vijith Nambiar has bagged the 9th edition of Bharath Murali award for the best debutant director. He won the award for his film ‘Munthiri Monchan’, a musical drama. Thrissur based Manasu Kalavedi constituted the award in memory of actor Bharath Murali.

The award jury noted that the award winning movie is a well-crafted film in popular format with importance to music and has brilliant coordination of sub-stories. The jury including MA Rahman, scriptwriter Shailesh Divakaran and artist Sudheesh Kandambulli selected Vijith Nambiar for the award.

The award carries a cash prize of Rs 10,001, citation and memento.

The award ceremony will be held in September at Sahitya Akademi hall in Thrissur, informed co-ordinator MC Rajanarayanan, PM Krishna Kumar, Unni and Surendra Panicker.