Tovino Thomas-Jithin Laal’s ‘Ajayante Randam Moshanam’ Shortlisted For Best Debut Director At IFFI’s Indian Panorama Section

Jithin Laal is the only filmmaker from Kerala among the five shortlisted films for the category.

Team THR India
By Team THR India
LAST UPDATED: NOV 10, 2025, 15:52 IST|5 min read
A poster for 'ARM'
A poster for 'ARM'

Director Jithin Laal’s debut feature Ajayante Randam Moshanam or ARM has been selected for Indian Panorama’s Best Debut Director Competition at the 56th International Film Festival Of India (IFFI), which is set to take place in Goa later this month.

Announcing this, the film’s lead star Tovino Thomas took to X to write, “Honoured to share that our film #ARM has been officially selected for the prestigious Indian Panorama’s Best Debut Director Competition at the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2025, Goa). Out of the five Indian films chosen, ARM is the only Malayalam film in the competition. We are grateful and proud to represent Malayalam cinema on this platform!”

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Tovino was also shortlisted for the Best Actor Award at the Kerala State Awards for his triple role in the same film. He was given the Special Mention award in the same category. The film also went on to win two other awards, one for Best Visual Effects and for Best Male Singer for the song ‘Kiliye’ for KS Harishankar. The film, which released on Onam in 2024, went on to become a blockbuster.

Speaking about the honour, Jithin Laal spoke exclusively to THR India. The filmmaker shared, “The first time I visited IFFI was back in 2013, after I’d just quit my 9 to 5 job. I was broke and I had to borrow money from friends to be able to afford staying at youth hostels. I’ve been attending the festival almost every year since then. Back when I started, I recall having to wait at the barricades to see some of my heroes on the Red Carpet during their premieres. It’s a dream come true to imagine that I would be walking the same red carpet this year, that too with my debut feature film.”

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