A recipient of several national and state awards, Sethumadhavan was one of those directors who bridged the gap between mainstream and artistic cinema.
KS Sethumadhavan, who made some of the best films ever in Malayalam, and who gave Tamil his first National Award for Best Film, passed away in Chennai. He was 90 years old.
A recipient of several national and state awards, Sethumadhavan was one of those directors who bridged the gap between mainstream and artistic cinema. Many of his films were box office hits.
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Born in Palakkad in 1931, Sethumadhavan made his directorial debut with a Sinhalese film, vijayveera, in 1960. The following year, he directed his first Malayalam film, Gyansundari, Before long, he established himself as one of the leading directors of Malayalam cinema.
He was prolific during the 1960s and 70s, during which he made films like Odayil Ninnu, Bharyamar Sukshikkuka, Kadalpalam, Vazhwe Mayam, Ara Nazika Neram, Achanam Bappayum, Karakanakdal, Anuvangal Palichkal, Panitheertha Veedu, Azhakulla Salina, Kanyakumari And Chatkari.
He was not as influential in the 1980s and 90s, but still he came up with important films like Opposition And venal kinavukali, his work in tamil marupakkmi (1990) won the National Award for Best Film.
Five years later, his woman won the National Award for Best Film in Telugu. He also directed films in Hindi and Kannada.
Of course, Sethumadhavan’s contribution to Malayalam cinema was much greater. He managed to bring out the best of the biggest stars including Prem Nazir, Satyan and Sheela.
He introduced Kamal Haasan to Malayalam cinema. And it was in his 1971 film Anubhavangal Palichakali Mammootty made his silver screen appearance for the first time, though only for one scene.
He was particularly adept at adapting literary works to cinema. Famous works by writers such as MT Vasudevan Nair, Thakazhi Shivshankar Pillai, P. Padmarajan, P. Keshavdev and K.T. Muhammad were turned into films by him.
In a career spanning over four decades, he did more than 60 films. Many of them are still worth returning to.
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