A young Malayali filmmaker has been chosen for the Seventh Gollapudi Srinivas National Award for the Best New Director for 2003 for his English film "Mansarovar".

The jury chose Anup Kurien over the directors of Bollywood hits, "Kal Ho Na Ho" and "Munnabhai M.B.B.S.", both by first-time directors.

The jury consisted of eminent filmmaker Kamal Haasan, veteran director and animation filmmaker Sangeetham Srinivasa Rao and film historian Theodore Bhaskaran.

The award is in the memory of debutant director Gollapudi Srinivas who died in an accident, while making his first film "Prema Pusthakam". It carries a cash component of Rs 150,000.

Kurien is an adman-turned-director trained at the Film and TV Institute, Pune.