Riyadh-based Naadaka Vedi and Children’s Theater, an affiliate of Kerala Sangeet academy, honored Manoj K. Jayan with a Padmashri Thilakan award here on Saturday.

Jayan, a leading South Indian actor who has worked in more than 150 Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu films, was also a nominee and strong contender for last year’s national film award, which is presented annually by the Indian government in New Delhi.

The actor was honored in a glittering awards ceremony in Riyadh, which was held as a part of the 4th anniversary celebration of the Naadaka Vedi in the Kingdom.

The actor enthralled the audience by singing and the function also included a number of entertaining sketches presented by students in the Indian.

During his trip to the Saudi capital, Jayan also visited the Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG) office on Thursday and was received by Waleed M. Al-Sagga, general manager PR, property and support services, Nashr Group.

In a brief interview with Arab News, the actor underlined that South Indian movies offer a realistic genre of movies, in contrast to the melodramatic cinema culture, which is prevalent in the country.

He expressed pride that the South Indian cinema is witnessing increasing popularity, asserting that it shows the rising acceptability of regional movies on a wider scale.

Commenting about his latest movie projects, he revealed that Kaliyachan and Konthayum Poonoolum (Malayalam) are to be released soon.

Born in Kottayam district in Kerala to the famous Carnatic musician Jayan of the Jaya-Vijaya fame, the actor himself is a talented singer and on request enthralled Arab News employees.

Jayan was married to the famous Malayalam/Tamil actress Urvashi.

He won the Kerala state film award for the best actor for his portrayals of Hariharan’s ‘Kuttan Thampuran’ in Sargam (1992), ‘Thalakkal Chandu’ in Pazhassi Raja (2009) and ‘Kunjiraman’ in Farook Abdul Rahiman’s Kaliyachan.