Adoor Gopalakrishnan | Photo Credit: File
Some dramatic moments were observed at the closing ceremony of Kerala Film Policy Conclave in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday when veteran filmmaker Adour Gopalakrishnan made some controversial statements on the state government project, which to promote filmmakers from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes communities and for a female filmmakers for a woman filmmakers, to promote filmmakers and for a woman filmmakers, for a minister, for a ministerial,
“The government is providing ₹ 1.5 crore for filmmakers of SC/ST communities to make a film. I told the Chief Minister that the government is paving the way for corruption through it, but nothing has changed. The intention behind the project is good, but they should be given at least three months of intensive training about this project. Shri Gopalakrishnan said that this money is not to make commercial films.
Regarding a similar project for women filmmakers, she said “just because there is a woman, the government should not pay money to make films.” They should also be provided training. He said that he should know all the difficulties involved in making the film.
Mr. Cherian disagreed with Mr. Gopalakrishnan in his speech and said that these days the of 1.5 crore was inadequate to make quality films, as most filmmakers under the project struggled due to funding issues.
‘A rare opportunity’
“In the history of 98 years of Malayalam cinema, people from SC/ST communities have not got the mainstream opportunity. This funding project is one of the best decisions by this government, due to which many new filmmakers of these communities were capable of coming forward. They were selected by a committee of experts through an intensive screening process,” he said.
The comments by Shri Gopalakrishnan invited a loud rejection from a part of the audience, especially singer Pushpavathi. Later, while speaking to the media, he said that Shri Gopalakrishnan was trying to torped a project to promote filmmakers of the marginalized communities. He said, “People of SC/ST communities have experienced harassment for centuries. Our ancestors have experienced circumstances like slave. It has just been for decades when we have started getting proper education. Torpedo has to oppose any effort of Torpedo. The government has clearly rejected their comments,” he said.
On Iffk
Shri Gopalakrishnan demanded that the representative fee for Kerala’s International Film Festival (IFFK) be raised to ensure that those who were really interested in cinema, recalling an incident only from the past, said “A group of Chala Bazaar workers stopped in the theater to see adult materials.”
Also Read: Failure to include adoor questions Owljuku In previous edition of IFFK
She criticized the 2023 protest movement by students of KR Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts, demanding the resignation of Shankar Mohan, director of the institute for discrimination of alleged caste, resigned as the president of Shri Gopalakrishnan’s institute. He claimed that the institute was prime for take-off during his tenure, but now no one knows the status of the institute. Coming to them, Mr. Cherian said that the institution was working effectively.
The minister also fought the claim of poet and filmmaker Srikumaran Thampi that K. Nothing happened after the Hema Committee report was published. “This is because the Hema Committee reports that it is ending,” he said.
Published – August 03, 2025 09:01 pm IST
