Malayalam film industry had three masters at the time of my entry — directors P Bhaskaran, A Vincent and KS Sethumadhavan. They were people’s directors who crafted commercial films of good quality. Their films were noted for artistic value and were commercial successes. Sethumadhavan gave huge importance to acting. He roped in the best artists for his films.
Actor Sathyan played hero in most of his films. It was only after Sathyan’s death that he turned to other actors, including Prem Nazir, for his major films. No other director has utilised Sathyan’s talent like Sethumadhavan. Some of them are Yakshi, Vazhve Mayam, Anubhavangal Palichakal and Inquilab Zindabad. Sathyan is best remembered for his roles in Sethumadhavan’s films, like the character Madhavan Thampi in ‘Oru Penninte Katha’.
He gave importance to family movies and rarely picked political and social issues. His biggest contribution is perhaps his selection of popular literary works as themes. He adopted several good novels and plays. No one else in Malayalam could bridge the gap between literature and cinema as Sethumadhavan did. His noted adaptations are Odayil Ninnu and Rowdy by P Kesavadev, Chukku by Thakazhi, Vazhve Mayam by Ayyaneth, and Aranazhika Neram and Panitheeratha Veedu by Parappurath. His films were ‘peaceful’ dealing with emotional themes, like the issues in a husband-wife relationship or father-son relationship.
Even in the adaptation of a political novel like Thakazhi’s Anubhavangal Palichakal, Sethumadhavan gave importance to family relations. He always did maximum justice to the original work. His scriptwriters were S L Puram Sadanandan, Thoppil Bhasi and K T Muhammed. He was well-versed in the techniques of filmmaking, especially shot arrangement. A part of Sethumadhavan’s success can be attributed to his favourite cinematographer Melli Irani.
They worked in perfect harmony. Sethumadhavan is part of Malayalam film history. He was also the associate director of the first colour film in Malayalam Kandam Becha Kottu. I must say that film critics and the media did not give due recognition to the national honours won by Sethumadhavan. His Tamil movie Marupakkam won the national award for the best feature film. But critics gave little regard to his great achievement because of their prejudice against a commercial film director.
He was a family man, a gentle character who did not smoke or drink. Sathyan’s death had an impact on his career as well. He couldn’t find a replacement for Sathyan to handle the intense character roles he had. He leaves behind indelible imprints in the Malayalam film industry.
Sreekumaran Thampi
(Director and lyricist)