The award for the English film Manasarovar carries a cash prize of Rs1.5 lakh accompanied by a special memento designed by filmmaker Bapu.
This is the seventh year of the foundation's quest for excellence in debut ventures of feature film directors and for good meaningful cinema.
Kurian, a diploma holder from Film and Television Institute of India in Pune, is also an MCA (Master of Computer Applications) and has made advertisement commercials and documentaries.
Manasarovar is his maiden feature film.