Filmmaker K.P. Kumaran has been chosen for the prestigious J.C. Daniel Award for 2021. The award, conferred by the Kerala government annually in recognition to an individual’s contributions to Malayalam cinema, carries a purse of ₹5 lakh, a statuette, and a citation. Minister for Cultural Affairs V.N. Vasavan announced the award here on Saturday.
A jury consisting of playback singer P. Jayachandran, who was also the recipient of the award last year, filmmaker Sibi Malayil, Chalachitra Academy Chairman Ranjith and Culture Secretary Rani George chose Mr. Kumaran for the award. According to the jury, he provided Malayalam parallel cinema with a new aesthetic and visual language in a career spanning around fifty years.
They further observed that since his debut with the short film The Rock in 1972 and Athithi in 1975 and Gramavrikshathile Kuyil made in 2020 at the year of 83, he has made sincere and meaningful use of the cinematic medium. Athithi, in which the real and the surreal are entwined, was one of the pioneering works of Malayalam new wave.
Mr. Kumaran was one of the first filmmakers from the State to win an international award, when his short film The Rock fetched the gold medal at the Expo film festival in Tokyo in 1972. His film Rukmini, based on Madhavikutty's Rukminikkoru Pavakutty, won the National Award for the Best Malayalam film of 1988.
He was also the co-screenwriter for Adoor Gopalakrishnan's debut film Swayamvaram. In 2008, he adapted Henrik Ibsen’s play Master Builder as Akasha Gopuram. He made Gramavrikshathile Kuyil in 2020 based on poet Kumaranasan's life.
