Adimadhyantham (meaning: The Beginning, The Middle and The End) is a 2011 Malayalam film written and directed by debutant Sherrey and produced by P. Rasheed, starring Prajith and Sajitha Madathil in the lead roles.[2][3] Adimadhyantham won a special mention award at the 59th National Film Awards.[4][5] The film is yet to get a theatrical release, but received generally positive reviews in its premiere show.[1][2] It was the only Malayalam film selected to compete in the 16th International Film Festival of Kerala, but was later ousted on technical grounds, and after a huge scandal, was included for a non-competition screening.[6]
| Adimadhyantham | |
|---|---|
 Film promotional poster | |
| Directed by | Sherrey |
| Screenplay by | Sherrey |
| Produced by | P. Rasheed |
| Starring | Prajith Sajitha Madathil Mamukkoya |
| Cinematography | Jaleel Badusha |
| Edited by | Saleesh |
| Music by | Saji Ram |
Release date |
|
Running time | 104 minutes[1] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Malayalam |
Plot
editAdimadhyantham tells the story of a deaf Vedan boy from northern Kerala named Ekalavyan, who has to follow and perform some traditional tribal rituals to carry forward his family tradition in Theyyam and traditional beliefs.[7][8] The boy is speech-and hearing-impaired, and his fears about death and loneliness form the main thread of its story. The boy experiences days and nights differently and has nightmares about death.
The IFFK controversy
editThe Adimadhyantham-IFFK controversy started off from the fact that the film was initially co-edited by an IFFK official Beena Paul Venugopal. Later the editing work was handed over to another person, for obscure reasons, and the film did not credit Beena Paul Venugopal as a co-editor either. What originated as a credit claim, later led to the expulsion of Adimadhyantham from the list of films in the competition section of the International Film Festival of Kerala, of which Beena Paul Venugopal is a managing official.[3] This amounted to an unexpectedly huge scandal because Adimadhyantham was the only Malayalam film selected to the competition section of the 16th IFFK. The expulsion was through the direct intervention of Priyadarshan, chairman of the Chalachithra Academy, and the rejection was defended publicly by K. B. Ganesh Kumar, Minister for Cultural Affairs.[3][9][10][11] This raised a controversy and K. B. Ganesh Kumar, the Minister for Cultural Affairs, claimed that the film was rejected because, only a rough-cut version was submitted.[3] He produced a DVD in the press conference to prove his argument, while the selection committee maintained that a finished film was, in fact, submitted to the committee and that they had seen the complete film before selecting it. This flared up the controversy and the matter was pulled to the High Court of Kerala. The court rejected the plea on technical grounds (lack of English subtitles during submission of the film, a rule never strictly followed in the preceding years). An appeal moved to the Division Bench was also rejected on the same grounds leaving an IFFK without a Malayalam film to compete.[3][12] Later, upon flaring up of the scandal, K. B. Ganesh Kumar conceded to include the film in the non-competing category, limited to just two screenings.[13][14] The left oriented cultural organization Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sangham took the issue up and waged a protest at one of the IFFK venues.[15] The issue came up in the open forum discussion on the second day of the festival, and the delegates engaged in heated arguments with Priyadarshan. In the end, Priyadarshan apologised for the problems.[13][16][17] After the protests, Adimadhyantham was screened in the festival under "Malayalam Cinema today" section on 13 December 2011.[18][19][20] Prior to that, the film was premiered on 4 December 2011.[2]
Accolades
edit- 59th National Film Awards - Special mention Award.[4][5]
- 14th John Abraham Award for Best Malayalam Film (by Federation of Film Societies of India).[21][22]
- Kerala State Film Award for Best Debut Director: Sherrey
- Kerala State Film Award – Special Mention: Prajith- Child Actor
References
edit- ^ a b The New Indian Express. 'IFFK: ‘Adimadhyantham’ gets good response.'
- ^ a b c The New Indian Express. 'No Malayalam films at IFF Kerala!'
- ^ a b c d e "Manorama Online". Archived from the original on 10 December 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
- ^ a b "Special mention award major recognition for 'Adimadhyantham'". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
- ^ a b Malayalam films fail to impress at National Awards
- ^ Deccan Chronicle. 'It would be known for frustration, not festivity'
- ^ "No Malayalam films at IFF Kerala!". Expressbuzz.com. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
- ^ "ഡമാസ്ക്കസ് മനംകവര്ന്നു; 'ആദിമധ്യാന്തം' എത്തി". Mathrubhumi. Archived from the original on 14 December 2011.
- ^ The Deccan Chronicle. 'No end to Adimadhyantham controversy.'[dead link]
- ^ "ആദിമധ്യാന്തത്തിന്റെ സംവിധായകന് പറയുന്നു: എന്നെ അവര് വേട്ടയാടി". nalamidam.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2011.
- ^ "ആദിമധ്യാന്തം: ഒരു സിനിമാ കൊലപാതകത്തിന്റെ കഥ". nalamidam.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2011.
- ^ Times of India. 'HC rejects Aadimadhyantham plea again.'
- ^ a b The Hindu. 'Sherry says no to film screening.'
- ^ "Metromatinee. 'Aadimadhyantham to Crime Branch Investigation.'". Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
- ^ "Metromatinee. 'IFFK 2011 day two, a day for films and protest.'". Archived from the original on 8 January 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
- ^ The New Indian Express. 'An ugly turn to first open forum.'
- ^ Madhyamam. ആദിമധ്യാന്തം: പ്രിയദര്ശന് മാപ്പ് പറഞ്ഞു. Archived 8 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Adimadhyantham to be screened". IBN Live. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
- ^ "'Adimadhyantham' to be screened today". The Times of India. 13 December 2011. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
- ^ "'Adimadhyantham' to be screened". Expressbuzz. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
- ^ "ജോണ് എബ്രഹാം പുരസ്കാരം ആദിമധ്യാന്തത്തിന്". Deshabhimani daily. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
- ^ "John Abraham Awards for Best Malayalam Cinema - Looking Back". Federation of Film Societies of India (Kerala). Retrieved 28 January 2023.