The District Public Library here on Thursday saw a group of people coming together in celebration of the golden jubilee of filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s first directorial venture, Swayamvaram.
Adoor Gopalakrishnan, the man who gave the world such films as Swayamvaram, Kodiyettam, Elippathayam, Mughamugham, Anantharam, Mathilukal, Vidheyan, Kadhapurushan, Nizhalkoothu, Naalu Pennungal, Oru Pennum Randanum, and Pinneyum, was felicitated at the function.
“It was an occasion for the art lovers of Palakkad to honour Malayalam’s greatest filmmaker,” said District Public Library secretary T.R. Ajayan. Koodiyattom maestro Sivan Namboothiri draped a ponnada on Adoor.
Several lectures on various aspects of Adoor’s cinema marked the day-long function. People enthusiastically threw questions during an hour-long interview with Adoor, and the filmmaker was at his coolest self in answering.
Film screened
Swayamvaram was screened in the afternoon. His first film, Swayamvaram was released on November 24, 1972, and it portrayed the uncertainty of the young, educated people. The theme may be anachronistic for the same crowds of today, but Swayamvaram was noted by the world way back in 1972.
Adoor is the only Malayalam filmmaker to have won the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the most prestigious award of the Indian cinema.
