Golden rigmaroles: Adoor Gopalakrishnan on the Malayalam screen

Humans may go oblivious to history, but time doesn’t. The jewel of a movie Swayamvaram of Adoor Gopalakrishnan appeared on the Malayalam screen, redefining the language’s conventional codes of filmmaking in the seventies. And the auteur has been here for half-of-a-century, counting the days and years from his maiden film — the 1965 short film A Great Day. How can the connoisseurs of good cinema sit back at this coveted fete? The event ‘Adoor@50- Adoor @75’ celebrates his golden jubilee in cinema and his 75th birthday in the capital city on August 17, the first day of Chingam.

An unostentatious event, as its organisers would like to call it, the fete will have a get-together at Ganesham open air theatre where the cast of Adoor’s first and latest movie will come on stage and honour the master of avant-garde. KPAC Lalitha and Sharada who acted in Swayamvaram, together with Dileep and Kavya Madhavan from Pinneyum have confirmed their attendance.

“The function is minimal in every aspect. Other than the actors, one representative each from film, film society movement and literature would grace the event for which, Girish Kasaravalli, K.R. Mohanan and Perumbadavom Sreedharan are invited. An on-stage live interview with Adoor is another programme we have arranged for the day,” says Soorya Krishnamoorthy, a member of the organising committee of the event. Pinneyum would hit the marquee on August 18, the very next day of the fete.

Marking his 50 years of cinema, his six selected movies will tour the state from August 13 to 16 with screenings in all 14 districts. The tour is curated by Federation of Film Societies. Images/Reflections, Kasaravalli’s documentary on Adoor, is also there in the folio of films. Entry to the event is limited to an audience numbering 500 by issuing passes on a first come, first serve basis.