M. Ashitha of '' Deccan Herald '' said , " Director Kamal makes convincing depiction of the obscure fate of poor Indian women in an alien land . Kavya excels in her role . Manoj Pillai 's outstanding camerawork makes the film realistic . " S. Anandan of '' The Hindu '' commented , " Kamal 's movie , on its part , attempts to catalogue the society 's brutality meted out to Gulf Malayalees . The movie is a decent depiction of lives in exile in the Middle East . However , going by the accounts of Gulf deportees , what is shown is just the tip of the iceberg insofar as the agonies of the diasporic workers in the Persian Gulf are concerned . '' Khaddama '' would have evoked a better response had its narrative been a little nuanced and punctuated with dark humour . " Paresh C. Palicha of Rediff.com gave the film three out of five stars , saying " '' Khaddama '' is one example where he Kamal deals with a subject that requires realistic treatment and he has come up on top . " The reviewer of ''Sify.com '' gave the film a verdict of ' Above Average ' and stated , " Khaddama handles a different issue and it is indeed one that needs grave attention as well . " Nikhil Narayanan of Oneindia.in stated , " If you are unhappy with the lack of women-centric themes in Malayalam cinema , here 's a reprieve . This movie belongs to Kavya Madhavan , who has brilliantly delivered the role portraying the hardships of a Malayalee maid in a Sheikh 's house in Saudi Arabia . " The reviewer of '' Asianet '' said , " All in all , ' Khaddama ' is a quality offering from the master director , with a genuine upsetting story . The movie has plenty of faces that continue to haunt you even after the film has ended . This is a film for the discerning viewer who likes to go a little beyond the regular masala stereotype . " The film has received various awards and nominations . In the 2011 Kerala Film Critics Awards it became the biggest winner , with three awards for Best Film , Best Director and Best Actress . The film was selected as one of the six Malayalam films to compete for the National Film Awards . Kavya Madhavan was in the final round in the Best Actress category , but she lost to Mitalee Jagtap Varadkar and Saranya Ponvannan . She won the Best Actress Award at the 2011 Kerala State Film Awards and Amrita-FEFKA Film Awards . Gaddhama was screened in the '' Malayalam Cinema Today '' section at the 16th International Film Festival of Kerala ( IFFK ) , in Thiruvananthapuram , Kerala in 2011
International Film Festival of Kerala
International Film Festival of Kerala
Khaddama