KG George had made a daring creative gamble as he got about adapting “Paalam apakadathil” into a full blown screenplay for a feature. He asked one of the finest cartoonist of our times, Yesudasan to write the dialogues of the screenplay that he himself wrote, based on the black comedy.
Cartoonist Yesudasan at the sets of Panchavadi palam (1984).
Pix Credit : Yesudasan.info
By KG George’s own admission, Panchavadipalam was the costliest production he had ever handled, with the construction of the iconic bridge coming to over Rs 15 lakhs at that time. “Gandhimathi” Balan, the producer of the film, never bat an eyelid as he gave the go ahead to construct a fairly functional bridge that was to be blown up later, created for the movie by Rajeev Anchal.
Cartoonist Yesudasan, with NL Balakrishnan and Rajiv Anchal.
The film had a brilliant ensemble cast whose onscreen chemistry created another celluloid classic in Malayalam cinema, all centered around the inimitable Dusshasana Kurup, a human being who walked around with a pristine, perfectly unused brain and the composure of a dragon fly.
In KG George’s own words, “There were people who told me that scene was not funny and that it was suffocating to watch Gopy’s performance. But what they did not factor in was Dushassana Kurup’s nature. This man is intellectually-challenged. He was told to deliver a thundering speech and he, in his stupidity, thought it meant he had to sound as ear-splitting as possible. The guy would have ceased to be Dushassana Kurup had Gopy delivered the speech even half-a-pitch lower. Gopy knows better.”
Then again, we always knew Dusshasana Kurup was in safe hands, didn’t we ?
Panchavadi Palam is a cult classic which always throws something new everytime you watch it. I agree with the author when even I felt that Gopi sir’s portrayal of Dussasana Kurup was a bit over the top on first viewing. However, the intricacies of the character portrayal by Gopi sir became very clear to me on repeated viewing and Dussassana Kurup subsequently became my favorite character from the movie. Subtle mannerisms, the walk, mundu above belly, dialogue delivery… everything pointed to a genius at work. I never associated Gopi sir with comedy. However, the legend again proved me wrong with the performance of a lifetime. Now, I cannot think of anyone else to portray the role of Dussasana Kurup. Salute to you legend!