G. Aravindan

G. Aravindan
File:Aravindan.JPG
Born	Govindan Aravindan
Occupation(s)	Director, Screenwriter, Musician, Cartoonist, Rubber Board Officer
Years active	1974 - 1991 (In film field)
Parent	M.N. Govindan Nair

Govindan Aravindan (born 21 January 1935 in Kottayam — died 15 March 1991 in Trivandrum) who was popularly known as G. Aravindan was a national award winning film director, screenwriter, musician and cartoonist from Kerala, India. He was known for his unorthodox way of film-making; he changed his cinematic forms consistently and experimented in story telling without regular narrative styles. Before venturing into film field, he was an established cartoonist. He had also worked with documentaries and theatre.

Biography

G. Aravindan was the son of famous comedy writer M. N. Govindan Nair. Aravindan started his professional life in as a cartoonist in Mathrubhumi journal. He established himself as a noted cartoonist in early 1960s with his cartoon series Cheriya Manushyarum Valiya Lokavum which dealt with the adventures of the central characters Ramu and Guruji, mingled with political and social satires. The series was preceded by two more cartoon series namely Ramuvinte Sahasika Yathrakal and Guruji featuring the central characters of Cheriya Manushyarum Valiya Lokavum. He has also worked in other journals as cartoonist. At one point of time, Aravindan diverted his attention to theatre and music. He played a major role in establishing theatre and music clubs namely Navarangam and Sopanam. He became associated with eminent theatre figure Kavalam Narayanan Panikker 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 revenue board when he got associated with artist Devan, playwright Thikkodiyan and writer Pattathuvila Karunakaran.

The first film directed by Aravindan, Utharayanam(1974) came out as a product from this group; the film was produced by Karunakaran and the story was written by Thikkodiyan. The early works of Aravindan was 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. Panikker. Aravindan's second film Kanchana Seetha was released 3 years later in 1977. The film was retake on the Ramayana. This film is credited with formation of a new stream of filmmaking called independent filmmaking. While Kanchana Seetha dealt with mythology, Aravindan's next film Thampu(1978) dealt with realism and told the story of suffering in a circus troupe. His 1979 films Kummatti and Esthappan were also ran through different streams. His next film Pokkuveyil(1981) starred poet Balachandran Chullikkad. From this film to his next film there was a gap of 4 years. The 1985 film Chidambaram was produced by Aravindan himself under the banner Suryakanthi. In 1986 Oridath came which handled the problems faced by the people of a hamlet where electricity in unavailable, when electric supply finally reaches there. In this period Aravindan also did a number of documentaries and short films. He also composed music for some films like Aro Oral, Piravi and Ore Thooval Pakshikal. Aravindan's 1989 film Unni had a starcast mainly consisting of foreigners. Aravindan's final project Vaasthuhara(1991) about refugees in Bengal was based on C. V. Sreereman's short story in the same name. The film had Mohanlal and Neena Gupta in major roles. Even before the release of Vaasthuhara, Aravindan died on 15 March 1991.

His father was a famous lawyer from Kottayam, Kerala who was also a well known humorous writer. Aravindan was the eldest son and his siblings were G. Gopakumar, sister G. Indira and the youngest brother G.Mohan Kumar. His only son Ramu is a communication designer, located in Bangalore, India. He was married to Smt. Kaumudi from Thrissur district.

Awards

National Film Awards

Director of Best Film

• 1986 - Chidambaram

Best Director

• 1978- Kanchana Sita
• 1979- Thamp
• 1987- Oridathu

Kerala State Film Awards

Best Director

• 1974 Utharayanam
• 1978 Thampu
• 1979 Esathappan
• 1981 Pokkuveyil
• 1985 Chidambaram
• 1986 Oridathu
• 1990 Vaasthuhara

Director of Best Film

• 1974 Utharayanam
• 1979 Esthappan
• 1985 Chidambaram
• 1986 Oridathu
• 1990 Vaasthuhara
• 1974 Best Script (Utharayanam)
• 1978 Director of Second Best Film (Thampu)
• 1979 Director of Best Children's Film (Kummatti)
• 1985 Director of Best Documentary (The Brown Landscape)
• 1986 Director of Best Documentary Film (The Catch)
• 1988 Best Music Director (Ore Thooval Pakshikaal)

Direction

Year	Title	English Title	Writer	Type
1974	Uttarayanam	Throne of Capricorn	Yes	Feature film
1977	Kanchana Sita	The Golden Substitute		Feature film
1978	Thampu	The Circus Tent		Feature film
1979	Kummatty	The Bogeyman		Feature film
1980	Esthappan	Stephen	Yes*	Feature film
1981	Pokkuveyil	Twilight	Yes	Feature film
1985	Viti	---		Documentary film
1985	The Seer Who Walks Alone	---		Documentary film
1985	Chidambaram	---	Yes	Feature film
1985	The Brown Landscape	---		Short film
1986	The Catch	---		Documentary film
1986	Oridathu	At a Place	Yes	Feature film
1987	Contours of Linear Rhythm	---		Documentary film
1988	Marattam	Interchange	Yes	Television film
1988	Anadi-Dhara	---		Documentary film
1988	Unni	---		Feature film
1990	Sahaja	Spontaneous		Short film
1991	Vasthuhara	The Dispossessed	Yes*	Feature film

Notes

*-He also wrote the story of Esthappan and dialogues for Vasthuhara

Other contributions

Year	Title	Director	Role
1978	Aaro Oral	Pavithran	Composer
1980	Esthappan	Himself	Composer, editor
1988	Piravi	Shaji N. Karun	Composer
1989	Ore Thooval Pakshikal	K. Ravindran	Composer

References

• G. Aravindan at the Internet Movie Database

See also

• Kerala State Film Awards