Harikumar, who died at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, had a long innings as a director in Malayalam cinema. He was 70.
Harikumar’s career spanned over four decades, having made his debut with Aambal Poovu in 1981. His last film, Autorikshawkarante Bharya, was released in late 2022.
He was an advocate of middle cinema, aiming to make meaningful, yet commercially viable films. His best work was Sukrutham, released in 1994.
Sukrutham was a disturbing film with a not-so-common theme. It had a fine script by M.T. Vasudevan Nair and featured superb performances from a talented cast that included Mammootty, Gautami, Manoj K. Jayan and Shanthi Krishna.
Sukrutham won the National Award for the best background score, composed by the late Johnson. The film’s songs though were tuned by Bombay Ravi, and penned by O.N.V. Kurup. From the album, Kadalinnagaadhamaam neelimayli..., rendered by Yesudas and Chithra, stood out.
Harikumar was, in fact, keen to have good music in his films, which gave us melodies like Oru dalam maathram... (Jalakam), Kaanalazhakulla manikya kuyile... (Oozham), Kuyilamme kuyilamme... (Ezhunnallathu) and Panineer poovithalil... (Udyanapalakan).
He may not have made another film in the class of Sukrutham, but his works like Udyanapalakan and Swayamvarapanthal were eminently watchable. He continued exploring different themes, though, through films like Clint, which was based on the short life of the painting prodigy.
Harikumar was part of the jury for the National Film Awards on a couple of occasions. One recalls him explaining, during a telephonic conversation, why Malayalam cinema failed to win big in a year he was on the jury. He was concerned that the directors lacked the polish and the eye for details of the masters, and that the young stars were no longer keen to compromise on their salaries, like Mammootty and Mohanlal used to do.
