''Kathapurushan'' () is a 1995 Indo-Japanese

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

-language

period drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...

film written and directed by

Adoor Gopalakrishnan Adoor Gopalakrishnan (born 3 July 1941) is an Indian film director, script writer, and producer and is regarded as one of the most notable and renowned filmmakers in India. With the release of his first feature film '' Swayamvaram'' (1972), G ...

. It was produced by Gopalakrishnan himself and co-produced by

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

. The film stars Vishwanathan, Mini Nair,

Aranmula Ponnamma Aranmula Ponnamma (8 April 1914 – 21 February 2011) was an Indian actress known for her roles as mother of the protagonist in numerous films in a career spanning over five decades. She is widely described as a mother figure in Malayalam ...

Narendra Prasad Raghava Kurup Narendra Prasad (26 December 1946 3 November 2003) was an Indian actor, playwright, director, teacher and literary critic. He was born at Mavelikkara in the erstwhile Kingdom of Travancore. Appreciated for his body language a ...

and Urmila Unni. ''Kathapurushan'' is a journey exploring the history of that time in the state of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

in India. The film won the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film The National Film Award for Best Feature Film is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in I ...

at the

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

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

(

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

) * Won -

* Won -

National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress The National Film Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role is an honour presented annually at India's National Film Awards ceremony by the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), an organisation set up by the Indian Ministry ...

1997 Bombay International Film Festival (

) * Won - FIPRESCI Prize - Adoor Gopalakrishnan

References

External links

* 1995 films 1995 drama films Films directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan 1990s Malayalam-language films Best Feature Film National Film Award winners Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress National Film Award–winning performance {{1990s-Malayalam-film-stub