Adoor Gopalakrishnan

Some Lesser Known Facts About Adoor Gopalakrishnan

• Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s ancestral family highly favoured classical performing arts and had a Kathakali troupe called Kaliyogam. This exposure to arts and literature influenced his reading and writing. He started writing at the age of eight.

• He was under the care of his maternal uncles and grew up in a joint family as his parents were separated during his childhood.

• He wrote a play called Aniyara during his school days, which won prizes and appreciation in various competitions.

  

• He removed his caste title, Unnithan, from his full name at the age of 20 years. ^[3]The Times of India

• After graduation, he started as a government official working as an investigator in the National Sample Survey department at Dindigul, Tamil Nadu for a brief period. The job required him to travel which was highly favoured by Adoor, but his interest in theatre was greatly affected.

• After resigning from the job, he joined the Film Institute of India to pursue his diploma in screenwriting and direction.

• His first non-feature film, A Great Day (1964), was part of his diploma curriculum at the Film Insitute of India.

• The short film, Light (1965), was also part of his diploma education.

  

• Adoor and his friend Kulathur Bhaskaran were the founders of the Chitralekha Film Society, one of the first film societies in India.

• He also took the initiative for the nation’s first film cooperative, Chalachitra Sahakarana Sangham, to produce, distribute, and exhibit quality films.

• His first film won 4 National awards, 3 Kerala state awards, and the Certificate of Merit at the Colombo Film Festival. It was featured in various international festivals including London and Helsinki.

• According to Adoor, the average time to complete his film is five to six years.

• He believes in Gandhian and secular ideologies.

• As of 2023, he has directed 12 films and over 30 short films and documentaries.

• Some of his acclaimed short films and documentaries are The Myth (1967), Pratisandhi (1970), Yakshagana (1979), Krishnanattam (1982), Koodiyattam (2001), Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair (2005), and Dance of the Enchantress (2007).

• Adoor had a close relationship with filmmaker Satyajit Ray, whom he fondly called Manikda. ^[4]The New Indian Express

  

• Adoor published many books such as Cinemayude Lokam (The World of Cinema), Cinemaanubhavam (The Experience of Cinema), Pantrandu Thirakkathakal, and Cinema Samskaram.

  

• Some of the prominent books written on Adoor are The Films of Adoor Gopalakrishnan: A Cinema of Emancipation (2015) by Suranjan Ganguly and Face-to-Face: The Cinema of Adoor Gopalakrishnan (2016) by Parthajith Barua.

• The filmmaker Mani Kaul and actor Asrani acted in Adoor’s Film Institute diploma’s curriculum project.