Thiruvananthapuram, July 17: Legendary film-maker Adoor Gopalakrishnan is finishing work on what will be his 13th feature film. The 84-year-old Adoor, as he is popularly known, said this to State Minister for Films and Culture, Saji Cherian, when the latter had gone to invite him for a Kerala government event at his exquisite home here.
Cherian told IANS that he wished Adoor would be able to start the film during his tenure as the films and culture minister. “I was amazed by the energy that the 84-year-old film-maker possesses and he is a voracious reader too. When I asked him if he would be able to start the film while I am the Minister for films, he said ‘definitely it will happen soon,’” recalled Minister Cherian. Minister Cherian went on to point out that he asked Adoor the gist of the proposed film that the master craftsman is working on.
“I asked him just one thing, i.e. if the film he is working on will be similar to the 1982 national award winning film ‘Elipathayam’. Adoor pointed out that times have changed but the central aspects of the film remain the same,” added Minister Cherian.
Adoor has brought laurels to the Indian film industry by winning numerous international awards in a film career which is into the 53rd year starting from his debut film ‘Swayamvaram’ in 1972 which won two national awards. His films have been premiered at Venice, Cannes and the Toronto International Film Festival. Adoor has won the National Film Award 16 times besides winning 17 Kerala State Film Awards.
He has also been decorated with the Padma Shri in 1984 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2006 and got the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2004, which is the highest honour in Indian cinema, presented annually by the Government of India for lifetime contributions to the film industry.
Incidentally, the last time Adoor made a commercial film was in 2019 when he directed ‘Pinneyum’ and in 2019 he made a short fiction film ‘Sukhantyam’. In 1984 he was decorated with the Legion of Honour, the highest decoration in France.
IANS