Kathapurushan

107 minutesCountriesIndia
JapanLanguageMalayalam

Kathapurushan (English: The Man of the Story) is a 1995 Indo-Japanese Malayalam-language period drama film written and directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan. It was produced by Gopalakrishnan himself and co-produced by NHK. The film stars Vishwanathan, Mini Nair, Aranmula Ponnamma, Narendra Prasad and Urmila Unni.

Kathapurushan is a journey exploring the history of that time in the state of Kerala in India.

The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film at the National Film Awards in 1996.

Plot

Kunjunni's parents separate soon after his birth, and he is left to be cared by his mother, lacking paternal care and affection. His mother has the help of his grandmother, an estate manager, and his friend Meenakshi, daughter of a maid servant in Kunjunni's house.

Inspired by his uncle, initially a Gandhian and later a Marxist, Kunjunni is drawn to left-wing ideologies at college, believing that communism is the answer to social hardships and inequalities. Eventually he joins an extremist Marxist group. After an attack on a police station, Kunjunni is arrested and charged, but is later acquitted.

Kunjunni matures with experience, yet feels lonely and disillusioned. He tries to turn his life around; on a quest to find his childhood friend, Meenakshi, he does so and marries her. He sells his properties to a newly wealthy man, whose father was once a servant in Kunjuni's house and moves to an ordinary house, trying to live a normal family life with his wife and son.

One day, a college classmate, a journalist, seeks to interview him, which Kunjunni declines. Later, Kujunni, with the help of his journalist friend, publishes his first story, "Karaksharangal". However, due to its subversive content, the government banned it. When Kunjunni reads this in the newspaper, he began to laugh, with his family, at this corrupt world.

Awards

The film has won the following awards since its release:

1996 National Film Awards (India)

• Won - National Film Award for Best Feature Film - Adoor Gopalakrishnan
• Won - National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress - Aranmula Ponnamma

1997 Bombay International Film Festival (India)

• Won - FIPRESCI Prize - Adoor Gopalakrishnan

References

External links

• Kathapurushan at IMDb