Adoor to direct two Malayalam films at one go

Thiruvananthapuram, March 10 (IANS) After a gap of about four years, ace film director Adoor Gopalakrishnan will begin work on two films simultaneously here Sunday.

Speaking to IANS, the winner of the Dada Saheb Phalke Award said the films are based on short stories by one of Kerala's illustrious novelists and short story writers, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai.

Both the films - "Munnu Penungal" and "Kalentae Makhan" - are based on three short stories each. They would be shot extensively in and around Alappuzha, the birthplace of Pillai.

Pillai, whose work focusses on the oppressed classes, has written several novels and over 600 short stories. He was awarded India's highest literary award, the Jnanpith, in 1984. He died in 1999.

State-run Doordarshan and Gopalakrishnan will jointly produce the films. Gopalakrishnan said Doordarshan had asked him to do a film on stories written by famous personalities.

In a career that began in 1972, Gopalakrishnan has made nine Malayalam feature films, each bearing the distinct stamp of the master craftsman.

A large number of film and theatre personalities are acting in the two films. Those starring in "Munnu Penungal" include Kavya Madhavan, Nandita Das, Padma Priya, Remya Nambisan and K.P.A.C. Lalitha.

"Kalentae Makhan" will star Murali, Mukesh, Jagathi Sreekumar, Jagadeesh Indrans and several others.

"I am doing both films together to cut costs. Everything is ready because we have been working on this for long. I will finish the shooting within 45 days and then they will go into post-production. The films will be released at the earliest," he said.