Thiruvananthapuram, April 8 (IANS) Malayalam movie superstars Mohanlal and Meera Jasmine have bagged the best actor and actress awards for their performances in 'Paradeshi' and 'Orae Kadal' respectively in the annual Kerala State Film Awards for 2007 announced Tuesday.

The awards were announced by Culture Minister M.A. Baby.

'In all 26 films were judged by the jury with Jahnu Barua as chairman,' said Baby. The best film award went to 'Adhyalangal' and its director M.G. Sasi bagged the best director trophy.

Reacting to the award Mohanlal said: 'Any award is certainly a huge appreciation and I am certainly happy.'

Jasmine said: 'Irrespective of how many awards is won by an actor or actress, every new award is a huge boost.'

A notable feature of the awards was that the best male and female singer awards went to the children of two hugely popular singers - K.J. Yesudas's son Vijay was chosen the best male playback singer ('Nivedyam') while Shwetha, daughter of Sujatha, bagged the best female playback singer award for the same film.

'This is a great honour for our family,' Yesudas senior said.

Veteran comedian and character actor Jagathy Sreekumar won the special jury award for 'Paradeshi', 'Arabikatha' and 'Veralipattu', while T.G. Ravi, yesteryear villain and now president of the Cochin Devasom Board got a special mention award for his roles in 'Adhyalangal' and 'Ottakkayyan', released last year.

Ace actor and national award winner Bharath Murali won the second best actor for 'Veralipattu and 'Pranayakalam' and Laxmi Gopalakrishnan walked away with the second best actress trophy for her performance in 'Thaniya'.

Babu Thiruvalla, director of 'Thaniya', got the award for the best debut film. Mammootty's film 'Katha Prayambol' was declared as the most popular film.

Meanwhile on the flip side acclaimed films from Adoor Gopalakrishnan - 'Naalu Pennunungal' and Shaji M.Karun's 'AKG', which were in the race for the best film and best director awards, did not win any major awards.