Adoor Gopalakrishnans remarks on Kerala govt undertaking for SC/ST filmmakers kick up a storm, grievance filed towards him

Adoor Gopalakrishnan (file)

Veteran filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s controversial statements on the Kerala Film Policy Conclave on the Kerala authorities’s undertaking to advertise filmmakers from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) communities and the one for girls filmmakers, kicked up a storm on Monday (August 4, 2025), with Ministers, Dalit activists and filmmakers criticising him for his stand.

Dalit activist Dinu Veyil filed a grievance underneath the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act with the Museum Police in Thiruvananthapuram and with the Kerala State SC/ST Commission towards the filmmaker.

Mr. Gopalakrishnan had mentioned the federal government’s undertaking underneath which ₹1.5 crore is offered to aspiring girls filmmakers and people from the SC/ST communities will pave the best way for corruption. The intent behind the undertaking is sweet, however they need to be given at the very least three months of intensive coaching to make movies, he had mentioned, calling for a discount within the quantity to ₹50 lakh.

Minister for Cultural Affairs Saji Cherian had disagreed with him on stage and mentioned “even ₹1.5 crore is inadequate to make high quality movies in these occasions.” He additionally harassed upon the necessity to help filmmakers from these communities as they “haven’t received any mainstream alternatives within the nearly 100-year outdated historical past of Malayalam cinema.”

In a Facebook submit on Sunday seemingly referring to his feedback, Higher Education Minister R. Bindu wrote that “it doesn’t matter if on a regular basis spent within the international movie platforms doesn’t result in a broadening of the thoughts and switch you into a greater human”.

Speaking to the media on Monday, she mentioned it’s the duty of democratic establishments to make sure justice for communities who’ve been denied the identical for 1000’s of years.

“It is the federal government’s duty to help not simply the inventive expression of girls and people from the SC/ST communities, however to deliver them to the mainstream management roles in all spheres of life. This undertaking is likely one of the greatest interventions that the Culture division has taken up,” she mentioned.

Filmmaker Bijukumar Damodaran, who mentioned he’s a filmmaker from an SC group who has made 15 award-winning movies with none coaching, accused Mr. Gopalakrishnan of insisting on intensive coaching solely within the case of SC/ST and girls filmmakers “as a result of he’s utilizing separate lens to have a look at them.”

Adoor doubles down on his criticism

Meanwhile, in an interplay with the media, Mr. Gopalakrishnan doubled down on his criticism and mentioned he was “not towards offering monetary help to anybody, however the beneficiaries needs to be offered enough coaching and orientation earlier than the disbursal of funds.”

He additionally reiterated his demand that the quantity of ₹1.5 crore for every filmmaker needs to be lowered to ₹50 lakh and divided amongst three filmmakers from these communities, thus giving alternatives to extra folks.

“I’ve not insulted anybody. If anybody can show from the recorded visuals that I’ve, I can apologise. I’m not liable for the interpretations of my speech. My intention was that they need to be offered a correct understanding of the cinema medium. Without that, they are going to find yourself not going any additional than this one movie. They shouldn’t disappear after making one movie. I’m talking for them, not towards them. Many of those that made movies by the undertaking had complaints as a result of they lacked information about filmmaking and the processes concerned. The Culture Minister doesn’t know that filmmaking is a specialist job that requires years of expertise as a result of he’s not a specialist in cinema. He shouldn’t have defended the undertaking,” he mentioned.

Criticises singer

Mr. Gopalakrishnan additionally criticised singer Pushpavathy who raised voices of protest towards him throughout his speech on the conclave and questioned these, together with the Ministers, current “for not stopping her.”

Published – August 04, 2025 01:16 pm IST

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