Adoor Gopalakrishnan

Adoor Gopalakrishnan left a brief job as a statistical investigator for the National Sample Survey in 1962 to study screenwriting and direction at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. He had earlier taken a degree from the Gandhigram Rural Institute near Dindigul. Born Mouttathu Unnithan Gopalakrishnan on 3 July 1941 in Pallikkal, near Adoor, he directs, writes and produces Malayalam films. With classmates and friends he founded Chithralekha Film Society and Chalachithra Sahakarana Sangham, Kerala's first film society. Swayamvaram (1972), his first feature, won the National Film Awards for Best Feature Film and Best Direction and is credited with starting the Malayalam new wave. He has made 12 features over five decades, among them Kodiyettam, Elippathayam, Mukhamukham, Anantaram, Mathilukal, Vidheyan, Kathapurushan, Nizhalkuthu and Naalu Pennungal. They often look at Kerala's society and culture, and they have premiered at Venice, Cannes and Toronto. Elippathayam won the Sutherland Trophy. His tally stands at 16 National Film Awards and 17 Kerala State Film Awards. The Padma Shri came in 1984, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2004, the Padma Vibhushan in 2006 and the J. C. Daniel Award in 2016, and he has been made a Knight of the Legion of Honour and a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee hosts an archive and research centre in his name. Padayaatra, which he has written and directed, is his upcoming film and his fourth with Mammootty.