A touching story
Screening
The gripping tale of four women struggling to find their identities and coming to terms with the harshness of life. The characters in Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Four Women are drawn from real people and real lives.
The film has travelled the world but very little is known about the man who made the film. A talk on Adoor Gopalakrishnan- A life in Cinema, a book by Dada Saheb Phalke award winner Gautaman Bhaskaran at the Bangalore International Centre in the City last week gave one an insight into the early life and the making of Adoor Gopalakrishnan.
The book traces the life of Adoor from his birth during the Quit India Movement to his lonely childhood at his uncles' house; and also his life at Gandhigram, where Adoor studied economics and politics. It delves into his days and nights at the Pune Film Institute. It talks at length of his first film, Swayamvaram, to his latest, Oru Pennum Rantaanum. Gautaman has explored eleven films and documentaries made by Adoor.
Gautaman says that all of Adoor’s films are steeped in real themes. “Four Women is a story of four women connected through common themes. There’s a certain sense of unfulfilment among them. There’s also a certain progression in the story from a lower to a higher strata,” observes Gautaman.
He further says that a film that was made 40 years ago still holds relevance to the present times. “It is true to time and comments in a strong way about matrilineal society and the joint family system,” he adds.
The film Four Women was also screened on the occasion. The film depicts a thought-provoking drama revolving around four elemental female characters in the South Indian State of Kerala. The prostitute, the virgin, the housewife and the spinster.
Those who were present for the talk said that the movie was truly touching. It was Adoor that drew the crowd, “I have watched all of Adoor’s films and the best part is that one can relate to all his films,” says Anuradha Rao, a young IT professional.
