Tuesday, 31 May 2016

11 AUG 1937-31 MAY 1987 JOHN ABRAHIM

John Abraham (director)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For Bollywood actor, see John Abraham (actor).
John Abraham
Johnabraham.jpg
Born11 August 1937
Chennamkary, Kuttanadu,Alleppey[1][2]
Died31 May 1987 (aged 49)
Calicut, Kerala, India
OccupationFilm director, screenwriter
Spouse(s)unmarried
Notes
"A Wonder in World Cinema" – Adoor Bhasi
John Abraham (11 August 1937 – 31 May 1987) was a Malayali Indian filmmaker, short story writer and screenwriter. He was perhaps more famous for his style of living and way of thinking than for his films. He attained a legendary status, living a nomadic kind of life. He rebelled against all the established ways of life as well as film making. John Abraham is recognised as a genius in Malayalam cinema. He made his mark with the Tamil filmAgraharathil Kazhuthai, but is possibly remembered most for his efforts in starting a people's cinema movement, an absolute form of independent filmmaking called Odessa Collective.
John is ranked among the greatest Indian film directors. His film Amma Ariyan (1986) was the only south Indian feature film to make the list of "Top 10 Indian Films" of all time by British Film Institute.[3] Agraharathil Kazhuthaiwas listed among the "100 Greatest Indian Films" of all time by IBN Live's 2013 poll.[4]

Early life[edit]

John Abraham was born in Chennamkary, Kuttanad in 1937.[1][2] He completed his intermediate studies in C.M.S,College,at Kottayam staying with his grandfather. It was his grandfather who nurtured Abraham's talent in early days. After completing his degree in [history and politics] from Marthoma College, Thiruvalla, he worked as a private college teacher and latter he joined as an office assistant with Life Insurance Corporation of India inUduppi, Karnataka. After that he joined the FTII, Pune and there he met film-makers such as Ritwik Ghatak and Mani Kaul. Abraham graduated out of the FTII with gold medals in screenwriting and film direction. He entered the film industry working as an assistant directorto Mani Kaul for the film Uski Roti (1969, Hindi). He has worked for some Hindi projects that was shot in Kerala, but none were released. Abraham's first attempt in direction came in 1967 named Vidyarthikale Ithile Ithile. It was the Tamil film Agraharathil Kazhuthai (1977) that elevated Abraham to fame.

Career in film direction[edit]

Considered an avant-garde film director and writer, he completed only four films, namely Vidyarthikale Ithile Ithile (1972), Agraharathil Kazhuthai (1977, Tamil), Cheriachante Krurakrithyangal (1979, Malayalam) and Amma Ariyan (1986, Malayalam), all four written and directed by him.

Odessa Collective[edit]

It was under the leadership of Abraham that Odessa Collective came into existence in 1984 with a street drama in Fort Kochi named Nayakali (The game of dogs). Odessa was an attempt by a group of movie enthusiasts to change the history of film production and distribution by making it a collaborative effort with the public and thus act as an empowering and liberating medium.[5] For the financing of the first film produced by Odessa, John and his friends travelled through villages and collected money from the general public.[6]Odessa also collected funds for the film by screening Charlie Chaplin's The Kid. The film, Amma Ariyan (Report to mother) (1986) was exhibited across the state of Kerala on a non-commercial basis,[7] an initiative kept alive, after John's death, by his colleague and co-founder of Odessa Collective, Odessa Sathyan.[8]
He started shooting a documentary based on the life of E.M.S. Namboodiripad, but never completed it.

The "John Legend"[edit]

The media called him Ottayan (The Lone Tusker). John Abraham attained mythical proportions even during his short life span, living a nomadic existence, who rebelled all the established ways. He was also an alcoholic, and died after falling from the rooftop in Calicut on 31 May 1987. John was a romantic artist, who believed that cinema could be used as an effective tool for social changes. He tried to by-pass the tyranny of market forces by establishing direct relationship with the people. No wonder that the man who made unparalleled films like Agraharathil Kazhuthai and Amma Ariyan was more acceptable among the illiterate villagers than the intelligentsia of Kerala. He has left behind a number of complete and incomplete scripts. A collection of his stories had been published under the title Nerchakkozhi. Another collection of his stories has been published posthumously under the title John Abrahaminte Kathakal by Pakshikkottam Books, Thiruvananthapuram in 1993.

Death[edit]

On 30 May 1987 John was admitted to the Calicut Medical College hospital following his fall from a house top after a get together party. He was not identified by the hospital authorities, and allegedly not given due attention and medical care, which caused his condition to deteriorate, leading to his death on 31 May.[9] Following the allegations of medical negligence, a departmental inquiry was conducted into the incident. 26 years after John's death, social activist Dr. B. Ekbal who was a surgeon at the Calicut Medical College when John was admitted for treatment, revealed that the director could have been saved if his identity was known to the doctors at the time of admission. He said the doctors at the casualty didn't know John and mistook him for a film representative when he said that he was a filmmaker. In a Facebook post, Ekbal said the doctors failed to diagnose internal bleeding suffered by John and to check his blood pressure which could have prevented him from slipping into a shock through a timely surgery.[10]

Filmography[edit]

Documentaries
  • 1967: Koyna Nagar – Director (in English) – Unreleased
  • 1969: Priya – Director (in Hindi) – (John's Diploma film at FTII, Pune)
  • 1969: Hides and Strings – Director (in English)
Feature films

Books[edit]

  • Nerchakkozhi (1986)
  • John Abraham Kathakal (1993)

Awards[edit]

Awards in memory of John Abraham[edit]

Wednesday, 13 January 2016

John Abraham

John Abraham was an exceptionally talented and genius director who became immortal by directing just
a few films in Tamil and Malayalam.He was a prodigy who possessed unparalleled  and intrinsic percipience
so that his films were always well noted and received the acclaim of critics.
John Abraham was born in Changanacherry of Kottayam District  in 1937 and after getting a
University Degree he joined  'Pune Film and T.V. Institute of India'. In that prestigious Institute only very few
people from Kerala were lucky enough to get trained in the various aspects of cinema making and acting.
Adoor Gopalakrishnan,Rasool Pookkutty,K.G.George,Actor Mohan Sharma,Ravi Menon,John Abraham
etc got trained from Pune Film Institute.
After the completion of the course he could assist the famous film director Mani Kaul for his film 'Uski Roti' and afterwards he proceeded to Chennai.
His directional debut  was a Malayalam film 'Vidyarthikale Ithile Ithile'.That film was not a film made as per his ideology and it did not give him much satisfaction.But it was a nicely manifested film which received much appreciation from critics and viewers. His next venture was a Tamil film 'Agraharathil
Kazhuthai' which  was an art film and drew great attention from viewers and critics alike.The film was well acclaimed and holds a
position of prominence still.This film earned National film award for Best feature film in Tamil for the year 1977.





John Abraham's film 'Cheriyachante Kroora Krithyangal' was a Malayalam film in which Malayalam Comedy/Character actor Adoor Bhasi acted in the mainstream role.The film received Special Jury award from Kerala Government and Best actor award for Adoor Bhasi.
Then he took initiative to form a  society in the name 'Odessa' by a group of enthusiastic people who loved
good  cinema.By their efforts  he was able to produce and direct another well acclaimed film 'Amma Ariyan' The film received National special jury award in 1987.For all his films the scripts were also written by John Abraham himself.
Each and every frame of his films are still appreciated and considered as a brilliant vision.But the director in his personal life was totally indifferent and spoiled his life because of his personal reasons.
He was a typical person who loved freedom and had the habit of strolling without caring about his own image.
He was not bothered about what others would tell about him and wandered and lived  a nomadic kind of life.He did  not try to earn prestige,fame or money even though he had the qualifications,quality and ability
much more than the average film makers of those period who were all earning huge amounts and living
lavishly.John Abraham made others act according to his instructions but never tried to "act" himself.He lead
a life in a way he loved to live up to his last breath.
Several years back when Director Kamal was living in a lodge room in Chennai,  John Abraham came to that room.Mohan Lal was at that time in the room.Mohan Lal  had heard about John Abraham but was meeting him  for
the first time.Kamal and Mohan Lal understood that John had not taken bath for several days as usual since he
was being  stinking of sweat.Mohan Lal forcefully took him to the bath room and  John Abraham had to obey and took bath.John Abraham but came out of the bathroom quite happily with an action of playing an imaginary guitar.
When the shooting of 'Cheriyachante Kroora Krityangal' was in progress Adoor Bhasi, the hero of the film
was asked to climb and  sit on the top of a coconut tree for the next scheduled  sequence. He got to the top of the tree by the aid of a long
ladder.When the scene was just finished a procession was going along the nearby road and John Abraham
went to see that procession and the film unit members also followed him.The great actor  Adoor Bhasi  who was respected
by all the Malayalam cinema members had  to sit on the coconut tree quite neglected  for another one hour since nobody
was there to provide a ladder and to  help him to climb down.
John Abraham  fell down from the terrace of a building and died on 31 May 1987.


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