Until 1997, the awards were managed directly by the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Government of Kerala.

Since 1998, the awards have been constituted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, an autonomous, non-profit institution functioning under the Department of Cultural Affairs.

In 1981, Nedumudi Venu received the honour for his performance in various films released that year.

Prithviraj Sukumaran is the youngest recipient at age 24 for Vaasthavam (2006); he replaced Mohanlal, who held this distinction for 20 years from 1986.

[a] There were five years when there was a tie for the winner—Rajit Kapur and Murali shared the honour in 1998, Fahadh Faasil and Lal in 2013, Nivin Pauly and Sudev Nair in 2014, Jayasurya and Soubin Shahir in 2018, and Biju Menon and Joju George in 2021.