Connoisseurs will miss Shaji N Karun, flag-bearer of serious Malayalam cinema
The passing away of Shaji N Karun, a highly gifted filmmaker from Kerala in the tradition of other celebrated film directors from his native state like Ramu Kariat, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, G Aravindan, MT Vasudevan Nair, John Abraham and KG George, who represented new wave cinema, is a loss to the world of movies. The 1970s witnessed the emergence of the new wave cinema in Malayalam language. The growth of the film society movement in Kerala introduced the works of the French and Italian New Wave directors to the discerning Malayali film enthusiasts.
When Karun made his debut as a director with ‘Piravi’ (1988), the film won the Caméra d’Or (Special Mention) at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. By then ‘Chemmeen’ (1965) by Ramu Kariat, ‘Swayamvaram’ (1972) by Adoor Gopalakrishnan, KG George’s ‘Swapnadanam’ (1976) and many others had already made their mark. ‘Piravi’ was well received at many film festivals and won at least 31 awards, including the National Award for Best Feature Film. He subsequently directed ‘Swaham’ (1994), ‘Vanaprastham’ (1999) and ‘Kutty Srank’ (2009), all of which received countless accolades. Interestingly, before Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine as Light’ (2024) won the Grand Prix at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, last year, it was Karun’s ‘Swaham’, the first Indian film in 30 years to compete in the main competition at this festival, in 1994.
After securing a diploma in cinematography from Film and Television Institute of India, Karun soon became an accomplished cinematographer and shot films for directors like G Aravindan, KG George and MT Vasudevan Nair. His stint as a cinematographer was also illustrious, wherein he won the National Award for Best Cinematography for the 1978 Malayalam film ‘Thampu’. The eminent filmmaker further made a number of short and documentaries films, including a documentary on G Aravindan.
Karun was a regular visitor to the International Film Festival of India annually held in Goa, in various capacities. His Malayalam film, ‘Olu’ was the opening film in the feature film category of Indian Panorama at the IFFI 2018, while he had conceptualised the signature film for the IFFI 2014, titled ‘Dances of Peacock’.
Karun had the distinction of being awarded Padma Shri in 2011 and Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 1999, besides the first Sir Charles Chaplin Award to commemorate the centenary of Chaplin’s birth (1989), during the Edinburgh International Film Festival, in UK. He was also honoured with the International Film Festival of Innsbruck (IFFI) Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.
Besides making films, Karun was active as a juror at many international film festivals and an active participant in governmental and academic arenas. He was the inaugural chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, as also the executive chairman of International Film Festival of Kerala from 1998 to 2001. He had been serving as the chairman of the Kerala State Film Development Corporation.
The influential director, in an interview with this newspaper had stated that being a cinematographer largely helped him in onscreen imagery, as film is a medium full of visual nuances. He had also maintained that pain is an essential part of life, and that is the main reason why his first two films, ‘Piravi’ and ‘Swaham’ had their stories woven around the theme of grief.
Karun, who was associated with Left movements, was one of the many flag-bearers of serious Malayalam cinema, who shaped Kerala’s film culture. The departure of this visionary filmmaker will definitely make the connoisseurs of good cinema miss him.
