Suresh Kumar, Maneka and Keerthy Suresh, often referred to as Kerala's complete film family, were in celebration mood after Keerthy Suresh bagged the best actress national award for her role in the bilingual film Mahanati. Speaking to IANS, Keerthy's father Suresh Kumar, one of Malayalam film industry's top notch producers, said, "It's something that we will cherish for a long time".

"To be honest, we would have been disappointed had she not got this award, as it was such a beautiful performance by her. We were sure that she had done a great job as an actress and hence we did expect this would come," he said. Incidentally, Kumar's wife Maneka was a hugely popular actress in the 1980s and acted in over 100 films before ending her career after marrying Kumar.