G. Aravindan

Govindan Aravindan (23 January 1935 – 15 March 1991) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, musician, cartoonist, and painter.

He was one of the pioneers of parallel cinema in Malayalam.

He was known for his unorthodox way of filmmaking; he changed his cinematic forms consistently and experimented in storytelling without regular narrative styles.

He studied at University College Trivandrum.

Before venturing into the film field, he was an established cartoonist.

He had also worked with documentaries and theatre.

He also occasionally directed music for other filmmakers.

He established himself as a cartoonist in the early 1960s with his cartoon series Cheriya Manushyarum Valiya Lokavum which dealt with the social encounters of its central characters, Ramu and Guruji, mingled with political and social satire.

Aravindan's second film Kanchana Sita (1972) was an adaptation of C. N. Sreekantan Nair's play of the same name, which is a reworking of Valmiki's Ramayana.

The film is credited with formation of a new stream called independent filmmaking in Malayalam.

It interprets a story from the Uttara Kanda of the epic poem, where Rama sends his wife, Sita, to the jungle to satisfy his subjects.

Director Aravindan interweaves the Samkhya-Yoga philosophical concepts of Prakriti-Purusha bonds throughout the film.

The film, told in a feminist perspective, significantly differs from all other adaptations of Ramayana in the characterisation of the central characters, including Rama and Lakshmana.

The characters are humanised, contrary to the way divine characters from Indian mythology are usually depicted in visual media.

The film was shot in the interior tribal areas of Andhra Pradesh and the roles of the epic heroes are played by Rama Chenchu tribal people (or Koyas), who claim lineage to the mythological Rama.

Upper-class Hindu groups accused of Aravindan of blasphemy for casting tribals in the role of Hindu epic heroes but Aravindan never heeded saying that the Rama Chenchus have classical features and are marvellous actors.

After that series ended in 1973, he drew cartoons for other journals but these were very sporadic.

At one point, Aravindan diverted his attention to theatre and music.

He played a major role in establishing theatre and music clubs Navarangam and Sopanam.

He became associated with eminent theatre figure Kavalam Narayana Panicker which accelerated his activities in the field of professional play.

They created several plays like Kaali and Avanavan Kadamba.

Aravindan was working as an officer in the Rubber Board when he got associated with artist Devan, playwright Thikkodiyan and writer Pattathuvila Karunakaran.

The early works of Aravindan were influenced by the group; for example, the spiritualism factor which can be seen in his early works can be attributed to satirist Sanjayan and mystic paintings of K. C. S. Paniker.

The first film directed by Aravindan, Uttarayanam (1974), came out as a product from this group; the film was produced by Karunakaran and the story was written by Thikkodiyan.

The film, which exposes opportunism and hypocrisy set against the backdrop of the Independence struggle, was inspired by Aravindan's own cartoon series Cheriya Lokavum Valiya Manushyarum (Small World and Big People).

The film is about Ravi, an unemployed young man, who has to face a series of encounters during his search for a job.

Ravi reflects on the past struggles of the anti-British freedom fighters he has learned about from his paralyzed father.

He eventually meets Gopalan Muthalaly, a leader of Quit India movement, but now a corrupt contractor.

The film garnered wide critical praise and several awards, including five Kerala State Film Awards upon release.

While Kanchana Sita dealt with mythology, Aravindan's next film Thampu (1978) dealt with realism and told the story of suffering in a circus troupe.

It was shot in black and white in a direct documentary mode.

Aravindan won the award for Best Director at both National Film Awards and Kerala State Film Awards.

His 1979 films Kummatty and Esthappan also ran through different streams.

Kummatty is a Pied Piper-like figment of Malabar's folklore about a partly mythic and partly real magician called Kummatty (bogeyman) while Esthappan blends together the Biblical story of the deeds of Christ and the way society responded to him, with the life of Esthappan, whose life mystified others.

Indefinability of the human mind was the theme of his next film Pokkuveyil (1981).

The music for this film was composed by flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia.

The legend is that visuals of this film were composed according to musical notations, without any script.

The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri in 1990.

G. Aravindan was the son of comedy writer M. N. Govindan Nair.

Aravindan started his professional life as a cartoonist for the journal Mathrubhumi.