Adoor Gopalakrishnan

Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Born	Moutathu Gopalakrishnan Unnithan (1941-07-03) 3 July 1941 (age 75) Pallickal, Adoor, Travancore, British India
Other names	Adoor
Alma mater	Film and Television Institute of India
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter, producer
Years active	1965 – present
Children	Aswathi Dorje
Parent(s)	Madhavan Unnithan, Gauri Kunjamma
Awards	Padma Vibhushan (2006) Padma Shri (1984)
Website	adoorgopalakrishnan.com

Adoor Gopalakrishnan is an Indian film director, script writer, and producer. Adoor Gopalakrishnan had a major role in revolutionizing Malayalam cinema during the 1970s and is regarded as one of the notable film makers of India. Adoor's first film Swayamvaram (1972, script by K.P Kumaran the director of one of the best Indian film " Athidhi ".) pioneered the new wave cinema movement in Kerala along with " Olavum Theeravum " (1970) and " Athidhi "(1974). Most of his films go to festivals around the world, and are released in Kerala. All the eleven films he directed, from Swayamvaram to Oru Pennum Randaanum (2008), were screened at several international film festivals and won him several national and international awards. He won National Film Awards 16 times, Kerala State Film Awards 17 times and also won several international film awards. He won the prestigious British Film Institute award for Elippathayam (1981). Adoor received the Padma Shri in 1984 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2006. The Nation honoured Adoor for his valuable contributions to Indian cinema by awarding him the highest cinema award of India, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2004.

Gopalakrishnan was born on 3 July 1941 in the village of Pallickal ( Medayil Bungalow ) near Adoor, present day Kerala, India as the son of Madhavan Unnithan and Mouttathu Gauri Kunjamma. He started his artistic life as an actor in amateur plays when he was 8. Later he shifted his base to writing and direction and wrote and directed a few plays. After securing a degree in Economics, Political Science and Public Administration in 1961 from the Gandhigram Rural Institute, he worked as a Government officer near Dindigul in Tamil Nadu . In 1962, he left his job to study screenwriting and direction from the Pune Film Institute. He completed his course from there with a scholarship from the Government of India. With his classmates and friends, Adoor established Chithralekha Film Society and Chalachithra Sahakarana Sangham; the organization was the first film society in Kerala and it aimed at production, distribution and exhibition of films in the co-operative sector.