Adoor Gopalakrishnan

Adoor Gopalakrishnan (born 3 July 1941) is an Indian film director, script writer, and producer and is regarded as one of the most notable and renowned filmmakers in India. With the release of his first feature film Swayamvaram (1972), Gopalakrishnan pioneered the new wave in Malayalam cinema during the 1970s. In a career spanning over five decades, Gopalakrishnan has made only 12 feature films to date. His films are made in the Malayalam language and often depict the society and culture of his native state Kerala. Nearly all of his films premiered at Venice, Cannes and Toronto International Film Festival. Along with Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen, Gopalakrishnan is one of the most recognized Indian film directors in world cinema.
For his films, Gopalakrishnan has won the National Film Award 16 times, next only to Ray and Sen. He also won the Kerala State Film Awards 17 times. He was awarded the State honours Padma Shri in 1984 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2006. He received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2004 for his valuable contributions to Indian cinema. In 2016, he was awarded the J. C. Daniel Award, Kerala government's highest honour for contributions to Malayalam cinema. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee have established an archive and research center, the Adoor 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.
Biography
Gopalakrishnan was born on 3 July 1941 in the village of Pallickal (Medayil Bungalow) near Adoor, present day Kerala.
After securing a degree in Economics, Political Science and Public Administration in 1961 from the Gandhigram Rural Institute, he worked as a Government officer near Dindigul in Tamil Nadu. In 1962, he left his job to study screenwriting and direction from the Film and Television Institute of India Pune. He completed his course from there with a scholarship from the Government of India. With his classmates and friends, Gopalakrishnan established Chithralekha 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-winning Swayamvaram (1972) was a milestone in Malayalam 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 namely Kodiyettam, Elippathayam, Mukhamukham, Anantaram, Mathilukal, Vidheyan and Kathapurushan 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 while Vidheyan 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 are Nizhalkuthu, narrating the experiences of an executioner who learns that one of his subjects was innocent, and Naalu Pennungal, a film adaptation of four short stories by Thakazhi 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 for Mukhamukham, Anantharam, Mathilukal, Vidheyan, Kathapurushan and Nizhalkkuthu. Winner of several international awards like the UNICEF film prize (Venice), OCIC film prize (Amiens), INTERFILM Prize (Mannheim) etc., his films have been shown in Cannes, 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 of Padma Shri (India's fourth highest civilian award) in 1984 and Padma Vibhushan (India's second highest civilian award) in 2006.
Gopalakrishnan is settled in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) in Kerala. His daughter Aswathi Dorje is an IPS officer (part of the Assam cadre, 2000 batch), currently acting as Deputy Commissioner of Police in Mumbai since June 2010.
Documentaries and 'New Cinema' movement
Apart from nine feature films, he has over 30 short films and documentaries to his credit. The Helsinki Film Festival was the first film festival to have a retrospective of his films. He has headed the jury at the National 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.
Style and trademarks
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."
Awards and milestones
Some of the awards and appreciation Gopalakrishnan has won for his films include:
2016 - On the occasion of India celebrating its 70th Independence day, news agency NDTV compiled a list called "70 Years, 70 Great Films" and Swayamvaram was among the four Malayalam films that found place in the list.
2015- Biswaratna Dr Bhupen Hazarika International Solidarity Award
2013 - Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award C. B. Kumar Endowment for Cinema yum Samskaravum (Essay)
2010 - Honorary Doctorate (D.Litt) from University of Kerala
2006 - Padma Vibhushan — Second highest civilian award from Government of India
2004 - Dadasaheb Phalke Award — Lifetime Achievement Award in Film awarded by the Government of India
1996 - Honorary Doctorate (D.Litt) from Mahatma Gandhi University
1984 - Padma Shri — Fourth highest civilian award from Government of India.
1984 - Legion of Honour — French order, the highest decoration in France
National Film Awards — Various categories for Swayamvaram, Kodiyettam, Elippathayam, Mukhamukham, Anantaram, Mathilukal, Vidheyan, Kathapurushan, Nizhalkkuthu and Naalu Pennungal
Kerala State Film Awards: — Various categories for Kodiyettam, Elippathayam, Mukhamukham, Anantaram, Vidheyan and Oru Pennum Randaanum
International Film Critics Prize (FIPRESCI) — won consecutively for six feature films (Mukhamukham, Anantaram, Mathilukal, Vidheyan, Kathapurushan and Nizhalkkuthu)
London Film Festival — Sutherland Trophy — in 1982 for Elippathayam
British Film Institute Award — Most Original Imaginative Film of 1982 — Elippathayam
Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by French Government (2003)
Lifetime achievement award at Cairo International Film Festival.
National Film Awards (Detailed):
1973 - Best Film - Swayamvaram
1973 - Best Director - Swayamvaram
1978 - Best Feature Film in Malayalam - Kodiyettam
1980 - National Film Award – Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Non-Feature Film) - The Chola Heritage
1982 - Best Feature Film in Malayalam - Elippathayam
1984 - Best Book on Cinema - Cinemayude Lokam
1985 - Best Director - Mukhamukham
1985 - Best Feature Film in Malayalam - Mukhamukham
1985 - Best Screenplay - Mukhamukham
1988 - Best Director - Anantharam
1988 - Best Screenplay - Anantharam
1990 - Best Director - Mathilukal
1990 - Best Feature Film in Malayalam - Mathilukal
1994 - Best Feature Film in Malayalam - Vidheyan
1995 - Best Film - Kathapurushan
2003 - Best Feature Film in Malayalam - Nizhalkkuthu
2008 - Best Director - Naalu Pennungal
Kerala State Film Awards (Detailed):
Best Film
1977 - Best Film - Kodiyettam
1981 - Best Film - Elippathayam
1984 - Best Film - Mukhamukham
1993 - Best Film - Vidheyan
2008 - Best Film - Oru Pennum Randaanum
Best Director
1977 - Best Director - Kodiyettam
1984 - Best Director - Mukhamukham
1987 - Best Director - Anantharam
1993 - Best Director - Vidheyan
2008 - Best Director - Oru Pennum Randaanum
Best Story
1977 - Best Story - Kodiyettam
Best Screen Play
1993 - Best Screen Play - Vidheyan
2008 - Best Screen Play - Oru Pennum Randaanum
Best Documentary Film
1982 - Best Documentary Film - Krishnanattam
1999 - Best Documentary Film - Kalamandalam Gopi
Best Short Film
2005 - Best Short Film - Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair
Best Book on Cinema
2004 - Best Book on Cinema - Cinemanubhavam
Kerala Film Critics Association Awards (Detailed):
1984 - Best Film - Mukhamukham
1987 - Best Director - Anantaram
1989 - Best Film - Mathilukal
1989 - Best Director - Mathilukal
1993 - Best Film - Vidheyan
1993 - Best Director - Vidheyan
1995 - Best Film - Kathapurushan
1995 - Best Director - Kathapurushan
2016 - Ruby Jubilee Award
A retrospective of his films was conducted in
Kolkata, by Seagull Foundation for the Arts and Nandan, 2009.
The Slovenian International Film Festival, 2009.
The Munich Film Museum, 2009.
The French Cinematheque, Paris, 1999.
Filmography
References
Further reading
External links
Official website of Adoor
Official Website of Information and Public Relation Department of Kerala
Adoor's oeuvre on Rediff
Collection of photos of Adoor
Profile of Adoor on Weblokam
Profile at 'Cinema of Malayalam'
'The Road to Modern Times', Naalu Pennungal and the cinema of Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Mint Lounge 8 September 2007, by Arjun Razdan
1941 births
Living people
Best Director National Film Award winners
Directors who won the Best Feature Film National Film Award
Best Original Screenplay National Film Award winners
Producers who won the Best Feature Film National Film Award
J. C. Daniel Award winners
Kerala State Film Award winners
Recipients of the Legion of Honour
Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts
Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in arts
Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipients
Film and Television Institute of India alumni
Malayalam screenwriters
Film producers from Kerala
Film directors from Pathanamthitta district
Malayalam film directors
Indian documentary filmmakers
People from Pathanamthitta district
20th-century Indian film directors
Screenwriters from Kerala
Malayalam film producers
Malayalam film cinematographers
Cinematographers from Kerala
21st-century Indian film directors
20th-century Indian photographers
21st-century Indian photographers
20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights
21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights
Malayali people