Retrospective - G Aravindan

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 filmmaking; 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. 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 that 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 Narayana Panicker that 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, Uttarayanam (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 KCS Paniker. Aravindan's second film Kanchana Sita was released three years later in 1977. The film was a re-take on the Ramayana. This film is credited with formation of a new stream of filmmaking called independent filmmaking. 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. His 1979 films Kummatty 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 four years. The 1985 film Chidambaram was produced by Aravindan himself under the banner Suryakanthi. In 1986, Oridathu 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 Aaro Oral, Piravi and Ore Thooval Pakshikal. Aravindan's 1989 film Unni had a starcast mainly consisting of foreigners. Aravindan's final project Vasthuhara(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 Vasthuhara, Aravindan died on 15 March 1991.

Filmography:
1991 VASTHUHARA
1990 SAHAJA (DOCUMENTARY SHORT)
1989 UNNI
1988 ANADI-DHARA (DOCUMENTARY)
1988 MARATTAM (TV MOVIE)
1987 ORIDATHU
1987 CONTOURS OF LINEAR RHYTHM (DOCUMENTARY)
1985 CHIDAMBARAM
1985 THE BROWN LANDSCAPE (SHORT)
1985 THE SEER WHO WALKS ALONE (DOCUMENTARY)
1985 VITI (DOCUMENTARY)
1981 POKKUVEYIL
1980 ESTHAPPAN
1979 KUMMATTY
1978 THAMPU
1977 KANCHANA SITA
1974 UTTARAYANAM