Biography of Adoor Gopalakrishnan

(July 3, 1941)

Adoor Gopalakrishnan is a great film director. He was born in 1941 at Adoor in Kerala. At the age of 8, he made his theatre debut. Since then he has been actively involved in theatre. He graduated from Gandhigram Rural Institute, Madurai with a degree in Political Science. He produced over 20 plays since then. In 1965, he graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. He then founded the Chitralekha Film Co-operative along with other graduates of the FT.I.I.to help in the production and distribution of non-commercial films.

Adoor Gopalakrishnan was influenced by the works of Satyajit Ray and his films. His first film ‘Swayamvaram’ got the President's Gold Medal for best film, best director, best cameraman, and best actress. He presented the theme of feudalism with his critically acclaimed 'Elipathayam' in 1981. Gopalakrishnan expressed communism and its conflict with the feudal system in 'Mukha Mukham’ in 1984. His movie ‘Muthilukal’, made for television, was critically acclaimed.