Book review

Ambivalent, silent endings: his forte

By

Randeep Wadehra

Adoor Gopalakrishnan: a life in cinema by Gautaman Bhaskaran
Penguin/Viking. Pages: xv+218. Price: Rs. 599/-

Gopalakrishnan was born feet-first on 03 July, 1941, in the village named Pallickal near Adoor town – a taluk headquarter of the state of Travancore’s (now, Kerala) Quilon district. It was a difficult delivery – made fearsome by the monsoon rainstorm in full fury. A sixth child of seven born to his parents his childhood was not particularly a secure one despite the apparent prosperity of his family. His parents had separated when he was still a child, making him vulnerable to all sorts of discriminations.

As a sensitive child, Gopalakrishnan displayed rare creative talent in literature, especially theatre. All attempts by his elders to get him interested in medicine and engineering failed. In fact, he preferred to study at Gandhigram than get “mainstream” education. Later on, at the Pune Film Institute (renamed as Film and Television Institute later) Gopalakrishnan impressed his teachers with his talent for screenplay writing and other related creative forms.

After graduating from the institute he struggled for five years before making his first movie, Swayamvaram, which unequivocally announced the arrival of an immensely talented avant-garde film director. Then, there have been other landmark movies like Mathilukal, Vidheyan, Kathapurushan, Mukhamukham, Naalu Pennungal etc.

He was convinced that theatre would be his professional mainstay but he ended up being one of the most creative film directors of India – making his place up there, among the all-time greats. His very first movie was ignored by his own State but it went on to win a bouquet of national awards – unequivocally announcing the arrival of a new, and unique, cinematic genius who could dare to break all the existing moulds, flout all the norms for success, and yet come up trumps. For example, he had the courage to do away with background music in quite a few of his movies and depend primarily upon silence, camera movements and natural/real-life sounds for not only creating dramatic effects but also facilitating the narrative’s flow. In fact, barring one, all his movies have ambivalent endings leaving the viewers intrigued. Perhaps he wants the cine-goers to use their respective imaginations and draw their own conclusions.

He too, like Bimal Roy, is considered a neo-realist filmmaker who, though influenced by the progressive-leftist values, preferred to carve out his own humanistic cinematic idiom that is often closer to Gandhian ideology. Some critics place him in the Satyajit Ray School of cinema, while others see the influence of Ritwik Ghatak. However, it is generally accepted that his films portray Indian reality. Gopalakrishnan avers in this biography that his movies faithfully record the history of a particular period, the time in which they are set. He makes sure of the authenticity of facts and materials used. For example, for creating the right ambience in the prison scenes of Mathilukal he got hold of a jail administration manual of the 1920s.

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