Adoor Gopalakrishnan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Mouttathu Gopalakrishnan Unnithan (1941-07-03)3 July 1941 (age 84) Mannadi,Adoor,Kollam district,Travancore,British India (present dayAdoor,Pathanamthitta,Kerala, India) |
| Other names | Adoor |
| Alma mater | Film and Television Institute of India[1] |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1965–present |
| Spouse | Sunanda (died 2015) |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards |
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| Website | adoorgopalakrishnan |
Adoor Gopalakrishnan (born 3 July 1941) is an Indianfilm director,script writer, andproducer and is regarded as one of the most notable and renowned filmmakers in India. With the release of his first feature filmSwayamvaram (1972), Gopalakrishnan pioneered the new wave inMalayalam cinema during the 1970s.[2] In a career spanning over five decades, Gopalakrishnan has made only 12 feature films to date. His films are made in theMalayalam language and often depict the society and culture of his native stateKerala. Nearly all of his films premiered atVenice,Cannes andToronto International Film Festival. Along withSatyajit Ray andMrinal Sen, Gopalakrishnan is one of the most recognized Indian film directors in the world cinema.[3][4]
For his films, Gopalakrishnan has won theNational Film Award 16 times, next only to Ray and Sen. He also won theKerala State Film Awards 17 times. He was awarded the State honoursPadma Shri in 1984 and thePadma Vibhushan in 2006. He received theDadasaheb Phalke Award in 2004 for his valuable contributions to Indian cinema.[5] In 2016, he was awarded theJ. C. Daniel Award, Kerala government's highest honour for contributions to Malayalam cinema. TheUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee have established an archive and research center, theAdoor Gopalakrishnan Film Archive and Research Center, at their Peck School of Arts where research students will have access to 35 mm prints of the eleven feature films and several documentaries made by Gopalakrishnan.[6]
Gopalakrishnan was born on 3 July 1941 in the village of Pallickal(Medayil Bungalow) nearAdoor, present-dayKerala.[citation needed] to a MalayaliNair family.
After securing a degree in Economics, Political Science and Public Administration in 1961 from theGandhigram Rural Institute nearDindigul,[7] he worked inKerala as a statistical investigator for the Government of India'sNational Sample Survey Office (India) in its early years. In 1962, he left his job to study screenwriting and direction at theFilm and Television Institute of India in Pune. He completed his course from there with a scholarship from theGovernment of India. With his classmates and friends, Gopalakrishnan establishedChithralekha Film Society and Chalachithra Sahakarana Sangham; the organization was the first film society in Kerala and it aimed at production, distribution and exhibition of films in the co-operative sector.
Gopalakrishnan's debut film, the national award-winningSwayamvaram (1972) was a milestone inMalayalam film history. The film was exhibited widely in various international film festivals including those held in Moscow,Melbourne, London and Paris. The films that followed namelyKodiyettam,Elippathayam,Mukhamukham,Anantaram,Mathilukal,Vidheyan andKathapurushan lived up to the reputation of his first film and were well received by critics at various film festivals and fetched him many awards. However,Mukhamukham was criticized in Kerala whileVidheyan was at the centre of a debate due to the differences in opinion between the writer of story of the film Sakhariya and Gopalakrishnan.
Gopalakrishnan's later films areNizhalkuthu, narrating the experiences of an executioner who learns that one of his subjects was innocent, andNaalu Pennungal, a film adaptation of four short stories byThakazhi Sivasankara Pillai.
All his films have won national and international awards (National award for best film twice, best director five times, and best script two times. His films have also won his actors and technicians several national awards). Gopalakrishnan's third feature,Elippathayam won him the coveted British Film Institute Award for 'the most original and imaginative film' of 1982. The International Film Critics Prize (FIPRESCI) has gone to him six times successively forMukhamukham, Anantharam, Mathilukal, Vidheyan, Kathapurushan andNizhalkkuthu. Winner of several international awards like the UNICEF film prize (Venice),OCIC film prize (Amiens), INTERFILM Prize (Mannheim) etc., his films have been shown inCannes,Venice,Berlin,Toronto,London,Rotterdam and every important festival around the world.
In consideration of his contribution to Indian cinema, the nation honoured him with the title ofPadma Shri (India's fourth highest civilian award) in 1984 andPadma Vibhushan (India's second highest civilian award) in 2006.
Gopalakrishnan is settled inThiruvananthapuram in Kerala. His daughter Aswathi Dorje is anIPS officer (part of the Assam cadre, 2000 batch), currently acting as Deputy Commissioner of Police inMumbai since June 2010.[8][9]
In December 2023, alongside 50 other filmmakers, Gopalakrishnan signed an open letter published inLibération demanding a ceasefire and an end to the2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, and for a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to be established for humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages.[10][11][12]
His biographyFace to Face: The Cinema of Adoor Gopalakrishnan (2016) has been written by film scholarParthajit Baruah ofAssam.[13][14]
Apart from nine feature films, he has over 30 short films and documentaries to his credit. TheHelsinki Film Festival was the first film festival to have a retrospective of his films. He has headed the jury at theNational Film Awards and many international film festivals.
Apart from his films, Gopalakrishnan's major contribution towards introducing a new cinema culture in Kerala was the constitution of the first Film Society in Kerala, "Chitralekha Film Society". He also took active part in the constitution of "Chitralekha", Kerala's first Film Co-operative Society for film production. These movements triggered a fresh wave of films, called "art films", by directors like G Aravindan, PA Becker, KG George, Pavithran, and Raveendran. At a time this movement was so strong that even popular cinema synthesised with art cinema to create a new genre of films. Bharat Gopi starred as hero 4 times in his ventures.
According to Gopalakrishnan "[i]n movies, the actor is not performing to the audience like the stage actor. Here they are acting for me. I am the audience and I will decide whether it is correct or not, enough or not."[15]
In 2014, Gopalakrishnan, then heading the advisory committee ofThe International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), irked controversy for introducing measures such as delegate passes being given only to those who can speak English since foreign films come withEnglish subtitles, these changes were criticized for promoting old-world elitism and restricting the festival's appeal.[16]
In 2023, he faced criticism for defending theK. R. Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts director, Shankar Mohan, accused of violating reservation norms and discriminating based on caste and class. Gopalakrishan's statements, dismissing allegations and emphasizing Shankar Mohan's credentials, have drawn ire.[17]
The students accused Gopalakrishnan, the chairman of the film institute, of shielding the institute director and not addressing their concerns.[18]
Some of the awards and appreciation Gopalakrishnan has won for his films include:
National Film Awards (Detailed):
Kerala State Film Awards (Detailed):
Kerala Film Critics Association Awards (Detailed):[26]
A retrospective of his films was conducted in
| Year | Title | Duration | Category | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | A Great Day | 20 mins | Short fiction | |
| 1966 | A Day at Kovalam | 30 mins | Documentary | |
| 1967 | The Myth | 50 Seconds | Short fiction | Merit Certificate,Expo 67, Montreal |
| 1968 | Danger at Your Door-step | 20 mins | Documentary | |
| 1968 | And Man created | 8 mins | Documentary | |
| 1968 | Manntharikal (Grains of Sand) | 20 mins | Documentary | |
| 1969 | Towards National STD | 20 mins | Documentary | |
| 1969 | A Mission of Love | 30 mins | Documentary | |
| 1966 | Your Food | 60 mins | Documentary | |
| 1970 | Pratisandhi (The Impasse) | 55 mins | Docu-drama | |
| 1971 | Romance of Rubber | 30 mins | Documentary | |
| 1972 | Swayamvaram (One's Own Choice) | 125 mins | Feature film | National Awards forBest Film,Best Director,Best Actress andBest Cinematographer. Entered into the8th Moscow International Film Festival.[31] |
| 1973 | Kilimanooril Oru Dasalakshadhipati (A Millionaire is Born) | 20 mins | Documentary | |
| 1974 | Guru Chengannur | 17 mins | Documentary | |
| 1975 | Past in Perspective | 20 mins | Documentary | |
| 1976 | Idukki | 60 mins | Documentary | |
| 1977 | Kodiyettam (Ascent) | 128 mins | Feature film | National Awards forBest Feature Film in Malayalam andBest Actor |
| 1978 | Four Shorts on Family Planning | 16 mins | Documentary | |
| 1979 | Yakshagana | 20 mins | Documentary | |
| 1980 | Chola Heritage | 20 mins | Documentary | |
| 1981 | Elippathayam (The Rat Trap) | 121 mins | Feature film | Sutherland Trophy at 1982London Film Festival National Awards forBest Feature Film in Malayalam andBest Audiography |
| 1982 | Krishnanattam | 20 mins | Documentary | |
| 1984 | Mukhamukham (Face to Face) | 107 mins | Feature film | FIPRESCI Prize, New Delhi,National Awards forBest Director,Best Screenplay andBest Audiography |
| 1985 | Eau/Ganga (Ganges-Water) | 140 mins | Documentary | Grand Prize, Cinema du reel, Paris |
| 1987 | Anantaram (Monologue) | 125 mins | Feature film | FIPRESCI Prize, Karlovy Vary. National awards for best director, best screenplay, and best audiography |
| 1990 | Mathilukal (The Walls) | 117 mins | Feature film | FIPRESCI prize, Venice, UNICEF Film Prize, Venice, OCIC Prize, Amiens. National Award for best director, best actor, best regional film and best audiography |
| 1993 | Vidheyan (The Servile) | 112 mins | Feature film | Feature FIPRESCI and Special Jury Prize, Singapore. Interfilm Jury Prize, Mannheim. Netpac prize, Rotterdam. National Award for best actor and best regional film |
| 1995 | Kathapurushan (The Man of the Story) | 107 mins | Feature film | FIPRESCI Prize, National award for the best film |
| 1995 | Kalamandalam Gopi | 43 mins | Documentary | |
| 2001 | Koodiyattam | 180 mins | Documentary | |
| 2002 | Nizhalkuthu | 90 mins | Feature film | FIPRESCI, Mumbai. National award for best regional film |
| 2005 | Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair | 73 mins | Documentary | |
| 2007 | Dance of the Enchantress | 72 mins | Documentary | |
| 2007 | Naalu Pennungal (Four Women) | 105 mins | Feature film | National Award for best director |
| 2008 | Oru Pennum Randaanum (A Climate for Crime) | 115 mins | Feature film | Kerala State award for best director 2009 |
| 2016 | Pinneyum (Once Again) | Feature film | ||
| 2019 | Sukhantyam (A Happy End) | Short fiction |
Kaamuki (Lover) is an incomplete 1967 movie directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan and starringMadhu,Ushanandini, andAdoor Bhasi. The movie, produced by a friend from Kuwait, was dropped midway due to financial problems. The screenplay of the movie was later adapted, with some changes, asTheerangal (1978) byRajeev Nath. Two of the four songs rendered byYesudas in the original movie were also included in Theerangal (1978). The lyrics were by Ettumaanoor Somadasan, and the music was composed by the team of V.K. Sasidharan[32] and P.K. Sivadas.[33]
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