When the Film Division proposed to make a documentary on Adoor Gopalakrishnan to celebrate the centenary of Indian cinema, the legendary film-maker’s main demand was that it should be directed by Girish Kasaravalli.
A year later, Images/Reflections — a documentary on Adoor Gopalakrishnan — is complete and will be screened to a select audience of film critics and film-makers in the city on Monday.
This was the second assignment Mr. Kasaravalli executed after directing U.R. Ananthamurthy, not a biography, but a hypothesis for the Film Division.
Mr. Kasaravalli distanced himself from feature films for nearly four years, to do two films on Ananthamurthy and Adoor Gopalakrishnan. He did not accept any offer after Kurmavatara (2011).
Mr. Kasaravalli had to painstakingly go through minute details from documentaries made on Adoor by Rajiv Mehrotra, K.K. Chandran, Prasanna Ramaswamy, and Vipin Vijay, besides reading A Door to Adoor by Lalit Mohan Joshi and C.S. Venkateshwaran, and Adoor Gopalakrishnan-A Life in Cinema by Gouthaman Bhaskarn.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Kasaravalli said he visited locations where Adoor’s famed films such as Elippathayam, Kathapurushan and Naalu Pengal were made. He said he did not focus on the biographical content, but concentrated on the thinking process of Adoor and his search for completeness.
On what made him accept the Film Division’s offer, he said cinematic sensibilities, language and austerity of images of Adoor had fascinated him for long. “His was a Gandhian way of making films and the cinematic language is strong, which works both in real and metaphysical levels,” he added.
This 90-miute film on Adoor illustrates director’s vision, philosophy of life, aesthetic concerns and attraction to Gandhi. “Images/Reflections is a subjective perception of Adoor and his creative interpretation of mine,” Mr. Kasaravalli observed.
Mr. Kasaravalli named five parts of Images/Reflections after his films, such as Kathapurushan, Mukhamukam, Nallu Pengal, Swayamvaram and Anantharam. Noted film personalities including, Mrinal Sen, Shyam Benegal, Gouridasan Nair, K.N. Panikkar, film critic C.S. Venkiteswaran spoke about their impressions about films of Adoor.
“Images/Reflectins is subjective perception of Adoor and his creative interpretation of mine”, Mr. Kasaravalli observed.
