Veteran filmmaker K.P. Kumaran, on Saturday, bagged the J.C. Daniel Award 2021, the Kerala government's highest honour for lifetime contributions to Malayalam cinema.
The annual honour, named after J.C. Daniel, who made the first silent movie in Mollywood, comprises a purse of Rs 5 lakh, a citation and a plaque, Cultural Affairs Minister V.N. Vasavan said.
An expert panel, chaired by renowned playback singer P Jayachandran, filmmaker Sibi Malayil, Chalachitra Akademy chairman Ranjith and Culture Department secretary Rani George selected Kumaran for the award.
The award selection committee said Kumaran brought a new visual language and emotion to parallel cinema in Malayalam through his half-century-long film career.
From his early films like Rock, which had won international awards in 1972 and Athithi in 1975, Kumaran has been taking a completely sincere and uncompromising approach to the medium of cinema. This could be seen in Gramavrikshathile Kuyil, which he made at the age of 83 in 2020.
Kumaran started his film career as the co-writer of Swayamvara, which marked the beginning of 'new wave' movies in Malayalam. He won an international award in the 1972 'Asia 72' film festival for his short film, Rock, which had a duration of one-and-a-half minutes.
Kumaran has also directed numerous documentaries for Doordarshan and PTI TV.
Born in 1937, Kumaran was part of the formation and management of the first film society in Kerala, Chithralekha.
The award ceremony will be held on August 3 at Nishagandhi auditorium in the state capital.