Non-Feature Film: KALAMANDALAM GOPI
43 mins., 35mm, Col., Malayalam
In the film Gopi is presented in the first person narrative. The
film watches as the artiste transforms himself into diverse and glittering personalities
and, in the process, we obtain rare glimpses of his life and art.
As has been the experience of many a master, Gopi had a difficult
childhood marked by poverty and travails. Gopi is adept at playing all types of roles,
whether the characters are pacha, kathi of kari. But Kathakali’s connoisseurs prefer
most of all to see him portraying pacha (i.e. noble and heroic characters and, indeed, he
has excelled in such roles.
ADOOR GOPALAKRISHNAN:
One of the India’s best-known filmmakers on the international
scene, film in-between his busy schedule devoted to the making of feature films.
Gopalakrishnan was born in the village of Adoor, Kerala, from which he takes his first
name, in a family, which traditionally patronized and practiced the highly sophisticated
dance-drama Kathakali. He himself began acting on the stage at the age of eight.
