Director Jayaraj was studying at school when Uttarayanam was released.
“I did not have the opportunity to see the film then, for children like me at the time cinema meant only the stars such as Prem Nazir, Sathyan and Sheela,” he recalls.
“But, I remember Uttarayanam was widely discussed those days.
“And when I saw the film finally, I was bowled over,” he says.
Uttarayanam was the debut film of G. Aravindan, one of India’s finest directors of all time. His 25th death anniversary falls on Tuesday.
Uttarayanam was released in 1975 and it won the State awards for the best film, direction, screenplay (Aravindan and Thikkodiyan), cinematography (Mankada Ravi Varma), second best actor (Balan K. Nair) and art direction (Artist Namboothiri).
Over the next three decades, Aravindan more than fulfilled the promise he showed in his first film (his films won a couple of dozen National or State Awards).
Parallel cinema
The cartoonist-turned-director also gave a strong push to the parallel, artistic cinema in Malayalam.
Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s stunning debut, Swayamvaram , had already been noticed and gifted directors like John Abraham and K.G. George ensured that the seventies would be the decade that changed Malayalam cinema forever.
Key role
Aravindan indeed played a key role in the history of art house cinema in Malayalam with his films like Thampu , Kanchanasita , Esthappan , Chidambaram , Pokkuveyil , Oridathu and Vasthuhara .
Oridathu was a delightful film about what happens when electricity comes to a village for the first time.
If the eighties was the golden age of Malayalam cinema when quality films attracted good audiences, directors like Aravindan could take a lot of credit; they upgraded the standard of the viewer of cinema.
“We no longer can expect a film like Oridathu or Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Kodiyettam enjoying success at the box office, but back in the 1980’s, Aravindan’s films were eagerly awaited,” says Jayaraj.
“He was a rage at the college campuses of my time. He is a distant relative of mine, but I have always looked at him and his films in awe. When I go abroad with my films for festivals, there are only two Malayalam directors I have been asked questions about: Adoor and Aravindan,” he says.
