Veteran Director K.S. Sethumadhavan has won the J.C. Daniel Award (2009), instituted by the State Government for his life-long contributions to cinema. The Award carries Rs. 1 lakh and a citation.
Announcing the Award, Minister for Education and Culture M.A. Baby said as one of the early film directors, Mr. Sethumadhavan was known for his simple narratives. He creatively connected Malayalam literature to cinema.
The Minister noted that Mr. Sethumadhavan was completing 50 years as a director this year. His first film was a Sinhalese film, Veera Vijaya, produced in 1960. His first Malayalam film was Gnana Sundari.
Mr. Sethumadhavan has directed films in six languages including Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. His was the first Tamil Film to win the President’s Gold Medal (Marupakkam). He has won Kerala State film awards for his film Vazhve Mayam (1970), Karakanakkadal (1971), Pani Theeratha Veedu (1972) and Oppol (1980).
Film Director K.G. George headed the committee that selected Sethumadhavan for the Award. The other members of the committees were K.R. Mohan, K. Ramachandran Babu and Kaviyoor Ponnamma.
