Adoor Gopalakrishnan : Film Maker

An undisputed master of the medium. A remarkably perceptive chronicler of his times who has crafted eight internationally acclaimed feature films and over two dozen shorts and documentaries. A filmmaker admired as much for the luminous grace of his visual style as for the disarmingly simple linearity of his narratives, Adoor Gopalakrishnan is the worthiest inheritor of the Satyajit Ray legacy. As a student, he learnt the ropes from Ritwik Ghatak at the Pune Film Institute. But when it came to authoring his own cinematic essays, Adoor chose to chart his own fiercely individualistic course. With epic results.As a craftsman in total control of his tools, Adoor often coaxes the kind of startling effects out of the medium that are accessible to only the truly gifted. As an artiste endowed with a sure command over his narrative material, he creates culture-specific celluloid masterpieces which, like Ray’s, are informed with a human glow that make them universal. Adoor made his first feature film, Swayamvaram, in 1972. In the 24 years since then, he has made only seven more. But each one of them—from Kodiyettam to Kathapurushan—has reaffirmed that he is the most important figure in the post-Ray generation of Indian filmmakers.