'It has still not sunk in,' says Siddharth Menon of his Best Actor award for June at NYIFF

Siddharth Menon couldn’t be happier. He has won the Best Actor award at this year’s New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) for his upcominig June (2021).

"It has still not sunk in," the actor said. "Maybe when the trophy comes from New York, it will!"

This win is also special for Menon because it comes at an opportune moment, with the film primed for release on the Planet Marathi OTT platform.

"The whole team, my producers and directors, everybody was so happy when I won this award," he said. "Even though I have won this award, I accepted it on behalf of my team. It wouldn't have been possible without them. In films, or in life for that matter, you can't do anything on your own."

In June, Menon plays an engineering student who is at a very vulnerable stage of his life. The film shows how he crosses paths with a stranger played by Nehha Pendse and how these unlikely people connect and heal each other.

Menon added that he had not expected to win the award and was just happy that the film was finally set to be released. "COVID has forced us all to go back to the basics and focus on the work at hand, take each day as it comes, and be grateful for what we have," the actor mused. "So I was just on the high that the film is finally getting a release."

This is not the first time a film starring Menon has been screened at the NYIFF, but he felt June deserved it the most and hopes his award would encourage people to watch it.

"The most important thing is that people should get to watch the film, because we are doing this for them," he said. "When the nomination came I was pleasantly surprised, but I just left it at that. Even getting nominated was a big thing for me. We finished post-production during the [total countrywide] lockdown [last year]. After all of that, we were kind of patiently waiting. And when they announced the award, it was unbelievable!"

June, about two lonely souls who come together to heal each other, is written by Nikhil Mahajan and directed by first-timers Suhrud Godbole and Vaibhav Khisti. It had its world premiere at the prestigious 51st International Film Festival of India earlier this year and was also selected for the Pune International Film Festival, which got shelved because of the pandemic.

Correction, 19 June 2021: An earlier version of this report said June was selected for the 25th International Film Festival of Kerala as well. It was not.