Eminent director KG George, known for his standout Malayalam movies of the 1980s that took the middle path between art and commercial cinema and inspired a future generation of filmmakers, has died at an old age home in Kerala. He was 77.
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George’s notable films included the noir psychological thriller Irakal (Victims, 1985), Yavanika (The Curtain), the political satire Panchavadi Palam, and Adaminte Variyellu (Adam’s Rib, 1983) which told the story of three women seeking to escape patriarchal oppression.
Born Kulakkattil Geevarghese George in Kerala’s Thiruvalla, he entered the film industry as an assistant to the renowned Ramu Kariat. George made his directorial debut in 1975 with Swapnadanam, which received critical acclaim. A string of films followed in the next decade and a half, including Kolangal (Silhouettes, 1981), Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback (1983) and Mattoral (The Other Person, 1988). George slowed down in the early 1990s, and his last feature film Elavamkodu Desam was released in 1998.
In the 1980s, KG George – along with Padmarajan and Bharathan – came to be known as the proponents of what was then called ‘middlestream cinema’, a school of filmmaking that rejected formulaic song and dance productions, without mimicking the style of art-house film directors like G Aravindan and Adoor Gopalakrishnan. Years after his biggest releases, George’s work continued to inspire a new generation of Malayalam filmmakers such as Lijo Jose Pellissery. In 2017, a documentary film on him was titled 8 1/2 Intercuts – a nod to George’s favourite auteur, Federico Fellini.
