Thiruvananthapuram: Veteran filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan is gearing up for a new film, and according to Minister for Films and Culture, Saji Cherian, the 84-year-old legend is full of creative energy and determination.

Minister Cherian recently visited Adoor at his residence to invite him to a government cultural event. During the meeting, he enquired whether the filmmaker might begin work on his upcoming project during his tenure as Minister.

“I was amazed by the energy the 84-year-old filmmaker possesses; he is a voracious reader too,” Cherian said. “When I asked him whether he would be able to start the film while I am the Minister, he responded confidently, ‘Definitely, it will happen soon.’”

Curious about the nature of the project, the Minister asked Adoor whether the new film would be similar in spirit to his 1982 National Award-winning classic Elippathayam.

“Adoor said that while times have changed, the core themes he’s exploring remain the same,” Cherian recalled.

Adoor Gopalakrishnan has been a towering figure in Indian cinema for over five decades. Since his debut with Swayamvaram in 1972, which won two National Awards, he has won widespread international acclaim, with his films premiering at major festivals including Venice, Cannes, and Toronto.

Over his illustrious career, Adoor has won 16 National Film Awards and 17 Kerala State Film Awards. He was conferred the Padma Shri in 1984, the Padma Vibhushan in 2006, and the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2004 for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema. In 1984, he was also honoured with the Légion d'honneur, France’s highest civilian award.

His last feature-length film was Pinneyum in 2016, and he followed that up with a short fiction film titled Sukhantyam in 2019.