#films
Adoor Gopalakrishnan @ 84.
Adoor is the most celebrated and critically acclaimed film director in India, after Satyajit Ray.
His feudal upbringing led to a lifelong admiration of Kathakali and theatre.
One of the earliest graduates from the Film and Television Institute Pune , he was fortunate to be taught by film greats like Ritwik Ghatak.
Back in Kerala in 1965, Gopalakrishnan organised the first film festival in Kerala and conducted shows of world classic films in ten districts.
Satyajit Ray and Chidanand Dasgupta had organised the first film society in Calcutta in 1947. Adoor and his friend and classmate Kulathoor Bhaskaran Nair, formed Kerala’s first film society, Chithralekha, in Thiruvananthapuram, in 1966.
Chithralekha Film Cooperative produced his first film Swayamvaram in 1972, which won the National award for best film. This pioneering film was the forerunner of a host of new wave films in Malayalam by directors like G Aravindan, KG George, KP Kumaran etc.
His film Kodiyettam (1977) earned both critical and popular acclaim and established Adoor as among the foremost of directors in India.
The rest, as they say, is history. Adoor’ films won 16 National Awards and 17 State Awards. He has been awarded the Padma Vibhooshan and the Dadasaheb Falke Awards.
Adoor also pioneered writing on films in Malayalam, through his books and articles.
My own memories go back to the 1980s, when Adoor used to introduce the directors and films, during the screenings organised by the Chalachitra and Soorya societies, at Tagore theatre, Thiruvananthapuram.
I admire his humility and love for films . During film festivals, he is content to watch films in the company of the ordinary viewers, claiming no VIP privileges.
Adoor Gopalakrishnan remains the friend, philosopher and guide, of good cinema in Malayalam.
– Joy Kallivayalil.
