AkashaGopuram is an adaptation of the Henrik Ibsen classic Master Builder.A film in Malayalam by renowned Indian film maker K P KUMARAN,AkashaGopuram is set in London among the Indian immigrant communityand tells the story of ALBERT SAMSON (MohanLal), a middle-aged architectwho has who has clawed his way to prominence.His single-minded focus on his job, however, has hardened him andprevented him and his wife ALICE (Swetha Menon) from having a meaningfulprivate life. The costs of Samson's ambition are also symbolized in hisassistant, ABRAHIM THOMAS (Bharat Gopi), Samson's former employer whomhe "scalped" to reach the top. Thomas, now dying, wants his son ALEX (ManojK Jayan) to have more independence in the firm. Samson, however, fears thathe will be eclipsed by a younger generation of architects, and refuses to allowAlex either to design original houses or to leave the firm and strike out on hisown.Into this tension comes HILDA VARGHESE (Nithya), a vivacious young womanwho has idolized Samson since ten years before, when, in the early stages ofhis career, he had built a large church in her hometown and climbed to thetop of its tower during its dedication ceremony. While in town, Samson hadpromised Hilda, then a girl of twelve, "a kingdom"; now, Hilda says earnestly,she has come to collect her kingdom.As Samson struggles with the destructive consequences of his monomanicalpursuit and his growing fear that he has lost his creative powers, themysterious Hilda helps him gain a glimpse of his former robust self.Known for his deep commitment to female empowerment through his films, KP Kumaran in AkashaGopuram paints an intriguing portrait of one man’sconsuming desire for success.
WALLPAPERS
Cast
Mohan Lal
Bharat Gopi
Sreenivasan
Manoj K K Ayan
Geethu Mohandas
Swetha Menon
Introducing Nithya
Crew
Script Department
Script, Screenplay & Dialogue Writer: K P Kumaran
Producers UnitProducer: Manu Kumaran
Associate Producer / Co Producer: Dinesh Panicker
Directors UnitDirector: K P KumaranFirst
Asst Director – India: Girish Kumar
First Asst Director – UK: Ajith Kumar
Second Asst Director: Thomas Sabastian
Third Asst Director: Aji Kumar, Abhijeet Gogne
Choreographer: Sandeep SoparrkarAsst
Choreographer: Anjali MehtaSound Department
Sound Designer: Mr. SajiSound Recordist: Krishna Kumar
Boom Operator & Nagara Operator: SubramaniamEditing DepartmentEditor: Ajith KumarAsst Editor: Ankur Tiwari, Sagar Deep KohliMusic DepartmentMusic Composer: John Altman (Xlantic Music Limited)
STILLS
The Master Director
K P KUMARAN has been at the vanguard of the parallel cinema movementand his films reflect his deep commitment to female empowerment. All hisfilms from the landmark Athithi (1974) to the National award winning Rugmini(1988) and Thotram, recipient of Suvarna Chakoram Award for Writing at theInternational Film Festival Of Kerala 2001 have female protagonists at thecore of the film.His first independent venture – the100 second Rock won the coveted goldmedal at ASIA 72 Film Festival. Athithi his first feature film as director basedon the breaking free of a strong woman from her indecisive and weakhusband to chart her own destiny has often been described by critics as onethe best films ever made in Malayalam.Several films followed, all based on social issues that impact the lives ofwomen. His film Rugmini based on Kamala Das’s famed short story Cages onthe life of a child prostitute won several awards all over.Thotram was an attempt at capturing the incomparable lyricism and lucidityof a primordial dialect in narrating an ancient tribal drama in thecontemporary idiom. The film is the story of a strong willed young womanwho resists tyranny and her martyrdom gives her a halo of being a deityamongst the tribal people. A poem never written, passed through generationsby word of mouth forms the plot of the film.An outspoken critic of the entrenched social biases; Kumaran made his markwith his fiery plays on social evils as part of the organized literary movementof Kerala in the sixties.His new film, AkashaGopuram starring Mohanlal, Sreenivasan and late BharatGopi is an adaptation of the Henrik Ibsen classic Master Builder.“What attracted me to the play was the intriguing psychological insights intohuman nature as well as the experiences of the characters in situations ofconflict. That lifts the play from the level of the mundane,” says Kumaran.According to Kumaran, Malayalam literature and Malayalis have a specialrelation with Ibsen.