'The award was a reminder that I am growing old'

Dada Saheb Phalke Award winner Adoor Gopalakrishnan says award-winning films are entertaining as well.
Select invitees and film students in the city got to witness a fine confluence of art and cinema during the felicitation of filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan by M F Husain. In between meeting eager visitors, the veteran filmmaker took some time off to chat with Hyderabad Times.
Being the recipient this year's Dada Saheb Phalke Award - and and the youngest ever awardee in the history of the awards - Adoor Gopalakrishnan tells us in good humour, "The award is usually conferred on people who've attained a certain age and seniority.
On September 1, my grandson was born. And on September 4, I came to know about the award. Both were reminders that I am growing old." He has several national and international awards to his credit, but feels that often, awardwinning films are perceived to be non-entertaining.
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"My first feature film, Swayamvaram, was a huge commercial success in Kerala. And the National Award came as big news to people. But over the years, people took the award as a warning and thought such films have very little entertainment value.
I would like to point out that much to the contrary, an award is recognition of your work and tells people that a film is important and should not be missed. Such films entertain you for a longer time."
When asked for his take on Saif Ali Khan winning this year's National Award for Best Actor for a mainstream film like Hum Tum, the director says, "I don't want to comment on that.
But when I Ilias was a member of the jury in the past, all the board members had decided not to award any film that wouldn't, say, get 60 per cent marks, when we review it. And that year, we refused to give away any award in the popular entertainment category."
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Adoor has made only nine feature films in his career spanning nearly four decades, but each of his works has left an indelible mark.
As film students who've just seen his film Nizhalkuthu (Shadow Kill) wait patiently to meet him, Adoor reminisces, "I was part of the second batch that passed out of the Pune film institute.
Back then, youngsters used to train with established filmmakers before branching out on their own. It was unheard of for students from a film institute to independently start filmmaking. And money was hard to come by. It took me six to seven years to find money to make my first film."
Making a few good movies has been his idea of going about business, and he adds, "When my daughter was in primary school, she asked me why I don't make too many films. She wanted me to make at least 10 films. I haven't reached that magical number yet."
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The lesser-known side of the filmmaker is his penchant to live in an environment friendly ambience. He talks fondly about his home in Thiruvananthapuram, where he has re-built an old house,
"The house was to be demolished and the wood used in the construction was up for auction. I stopped them from doing so since the place was environmentfriendly."
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