Thiruvananthapuram, March 18

The master actor that he was, Thilakan refuses to bow out from the film industry even after his death -- a special mention award came his way for the stellar performance in the Malayalam film "Ustad Hotel".

The 60th National Film Awards were announced in Delhi Monday, and this film was one of the last in which Thilakan featured before passing away Sep 24, 2012.

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Beginning his career through theatre in the mid-1950s, Thilakan took the Malayalam film industry by storm since his first outing in 1979 in the film "Ulkadal".

He acted in close to 300 films in most south Indian languages.

Thilakan was one actor who placed his profession before anything, and in the process, he rubbed many of his colleagues the wrong way. Two years back, following an open attack against the reigning superstars of the southern film industry, the actors' apex body, Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA), showed him the exit door.

This is Thilakan's third National Award, the first having come in 1988 as the best supporting actor in the film "Rithubedham", and a special jury mention in 2007 for his acting in the film "Eekantham".