The J. C. Daniel Award is an annual award given by the Government of Kerala

Government of Kerala

The Government of Kerala is a democratically elected body that governs the State of Kerala, India for a period of 5 years. The state government is headed by the Governor of Kerala as the nominal head of state, with a democratically elected Chief Minister as real head of the executive. The state...

. The Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala instituted the award in honour of J. C. Daniel

J. C. Daniel

J. C. Daniel was the first film-maker from Kerala, India. He produced, directed, wrote, photographed, edited and acted in the first film made in Kerala, named Vigathakumaran meaning the Lost Child. He also established the first film studio in Kerala, named The Travancore National Pictures. It was...

 in 1992. The award, a part of the Kerala State Film Awards is to honour lifetime achievements and outstanding contributions to Malayalam cinema

Malayalam cinema

The Cinema of Kerala or Malayalam cinema refers to the film industry in the Indian state of Kerala, which makes films in the Malayalam language. Malayalam movies typically portray social or family issues and are considered more realistic than films from other parts of India. Malayalam cinema has...

. From 1998, the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy

Kerala State Chalachitra Academy

Kerala State Chalachitra Academy is an autonomous non-profit institution working under the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala. It was founded in August 1998 for the promotion of cinema in Kerala, considering the fact that cinema is the most popular art form in Kerala...

, an autonomous body under the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala

Government of Kerala

The Government of Kerala is a democratically elected body that governs the State of Kerala, India for a period of 5 years. The state government is headed by the Governor of Kerala as the nominal head of state, with a democratically elected Chief Minister as real head of the executive. The state...

 has hosted the award.

Recipients

Following is the list of award winners:

Sl. No.	Year	Winner	Area of contribution
1	1992	T. E. Vasudevan
2	1993	Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair was a Malayali Indian poet, playwright, script writer, lyricist, orator, film director and actor, though he is best known as an actor in Malayalam cinema. He is the recipient of Padmashri from the Government of India, which is one of the highest civilian honours in India....	Actor, Director
3	1994	P. Bhaskaran P. Bhaskaran Pulloottupadathu Bhaskara Menon , better known as P. Bhaskaran, was a famous Malayalam poet and lyricist of Malayalam film songs. He penned more than 3000 songs for about 250 films. He also directed 44 Malayalam feature films and 3 documentaries, produced 6 feature films and acted in several movies...	Lyricist
4	1995	Abhayadev	Playback singer
5	1996	A. Vincent A. Vincent Aloysius Vincent born June 14, 1928 in Calicut, Kerala, India is an Indian cinematographer of Hindi movies and director of Malayalam movies. Since the mid 1960s he has directed some 30 movies...	Cinematographer, Director
6	1997	K. Raghavan K. Raghavan K. Raghavan is a Malayalam music composer. Along with Baburaj, Raghavan is often credited for the renaissance of Malayalam film music. K.Raghavan gave a new direction and identity to Malayalam film music.As he searched for the right tune for the lyrics, little did K...	Music director
7	1998	V. Dakshinamurthy	Music director
8	1999	G. Devarajan G. Devarajan Paravoor Govindan Devarajan , popularly known as G. Devarajan or Devarajan master, was a noted Malayalam music composer, died on March 15, 2006 in Chennai, at the age of 80....	Music director
9	2000	M. Krishnan Nair	Director
10	2001	P. N. Menon P. N. Menon P. N. Menon was an Indian film director and art director in Malayalam cinema.-Early life:Born in a poor family in a small town called Vadakkaanchery in Kerala, he completed his studies at Thrissur and from School of Art in Chennai. He came to Chennai when he was only 20 years old...	Director
11	2002	K. J. Yesudas K. J. Yesudas Kattassery Joseph Yesudas is an Indian classical musician and playback singer.Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. He has recorded more than 50,000 songs in many languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi,...	Playback singer
12	2003
13	2004	Madhu Madhu (actor) Madhavan Nair , commonly known by his stage name Madhu is an actor in Malayalam cinema. He was a prominent lead actor during the 60s and 70s. He has also directed and produced films, and at one time he owned Uma film studio.-Early life:...	Actor
14	2005	Aranmula Ponnamma Aranmula Ponnamma Aranmula Ponnamma was a National Award winning Malayalam film actress known for her roles as mother of the protagonist in numerous films. She was widely described as a mother figure in Malayalam cinema.-Early life:...	Actress
15	2006	Mankada Ravi Varma Mankada Ravi Varma Ravi Varma , better known by his stage name Mankada Ravi Varma, was an Indian Malayalam cinematographer and director. He is exclusively known for his association with renowned film-maker Adoor Gopalakrishnan. He has associated with other major directors such as G. Aravindan and P. N. Menon. He has...	Cinematographer, Director
16	2007	P. Ramdas	Director
17	2008	K. Raveendran Nair
18	2009	K. S. Sethumadhavan K. S. Sethumadhavan K. S. Sethumadhavan is an Indian director of Malayalam films. He has also directed films in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Since the early 1960s he has directed over 60 movies...	Director
19	2010	Navodaya Appachan Appachan Maliampurackal Chacko Punnoose, known as Navodaya Appachan is an Indian film producer, director, and entrepreneur. He is mainly involved in Malayalam cinema.... (M. C. Punnoose)	Producer, Director