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The world of Adoor

Renowned filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan strayed into films and then changed people's perceptions about films themselves

Photo: R.V. Moorthy

MASTER STROKEAdoor says it's the director's responsibility to give the audience a different experience every time

On mapping the life of Adoor Gopalakrishnan, winner of Dada Saheb Phalke Award 2004, it curiously reminds one of Dada Saheb Phalke's story itself. Phalke, trained in architecture and block-making, portrait photography and stage makeup among other things, discovered the magic of cinema in Germany when he was well into his middle age. He went on to become the father of Indian cinema, acknowledged as the largest commercial film industry in the world.

Adoor Gopalakrishnan was an employee of the National Sample Survey besides being a playwright and director, before he too succumbed to the allure of cinema. He eventually became known as the man who changed the way films were made in Kerala. In his case though, it was more naiveté than purpose that transported him to the world of the screen.

Rare scholarship

"After my graduation from Madurai Gandhi Gram, I was employed as an investigator in the National Sample Survey," Adoor reminisces. "By that time I had established myself as a playwright and as an actor. Of course, I wanted to quit my job, though I was well paid," he adds, with his characteristic warm chuckle that belies the seriousness of his films. "I foolishly thought writing a screenplay would be similar to writing a play. And I went to Pune for the test (Film and Television Institute of India). I still remember Khwaja Ahmad Abbas was on the interview board. He enquired about his friends Thakazhi (Sivasankaran Pillai) and others. I was given the only scholarship available, so I was confident!"

Earlier, in Adoor, Kerala, a hometown that has become famous for being prefixed to his illustrious name, he had not seen many films. "It was in Pune I picked up all my Hindi films. I also saw world cinema. In those days, I used to marvel at the spectacle, the magic, the concept of cinema. As a schoolboy I had been fascinated by all this but never thought I would be making films. But at the Film Institute I discovered cinema from the (early films) to the most complex and demanding works."

Despite his fascination for the marvels possible on screen, the films of Adoor are known for being deceptively simple. The protagonists are not heroes endowed with super powers, nor are the villains downright monstrous (barring Mammootty in Vidheyan). Young men and women trying to fulfil their dreams; an old hangman coping with guilt; a system of governance ostensibly for the good of the people but one that actually brooks no resistance; traditional families breaking up under the strain of changing times.

They could perhaps be described as ordinary people faced with extraordinary circumstances. So what is it that turns an interesting idea into a good film?

Creative process

"It's a whole long process of creativity. There is an idea you want to convey to the audience. First of all you need an interesting treatment. That's why you have a story, which evolves, with characters, incidents, and conflicts. It's taken to a climax and then resolved. This is something common to all theatrical forms. It's the device to keep audiences in the cinema halls," he says, teacher-like. Then comes the concept that makes his films unique.

"But that is only one function of cinema. Another function of cinema is to experience life. There are some things you see but don't always realise. So cinema becomes a deeply experienced thing you keep for the rest of your life."

As with a poem, Adoor expects a good film to grow with the perceiver. "It should have many layers, stand many interpretations. As you recollect it, more allusions should become clear. For that you need to have good craft, to convey the idea effectively."

Even that's not enough. It is the director's responsibility to give the audience a new experience each time, says the man known for his experiments with the narrative technique.

His own pace

Despite being a much feted and awarded director, Adoor has not increased the pace at which his films come out. "In the very beginning of my career I used to worry about money. And later maybe because of that I got used to a very slow rhythm." He has preoccupations other than filmmaking. Author of three books on cinema, he also enjoys reading — "everything" in Malayalam and selectively in English. Besides, he adds: "I am a social being."

For the time being we can expect a documentary in a couple of months on Mohiniattam he is making with French dancer Brigitte Chataigner, but he says he will work on a feature film only later. Some young producers wish to make his films, but then when he asks them if they can afford to lose money, they quietly disappear. Extraordinary man, ordinary circumstances?

Anjana Rajan

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