Pathanamthitta (Kerala): One of the state award statuettes for the 1980 Malayalam movie 'Oppol', written by M T Vasudevan Nair and directed by K S Sethumadhavan, which had bagged many national and state accolades then, has been found abandoned in a scrap shop.
The name of the movie ‘Oppol’ and producer Rosamma George was engraved on the award statuette that was found at a scrap shop in Ranni in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala.
George Kutty, a member at the Ranni Panchayath and a collector of antique artefacts, got the bronze statuette from the scrap shop. However, it is not yet known how the award statuette landed at the scrap dealer's shop.
George Kutty informed his friend and sculptor Shila Santhosh about the statuette. An archaeologist besides being a sculptor, Santhosh collected the piece for his Shila Museum from George Kutty. Shila Santhosh is currently trying to find out how the prestigious State award reached a scrap shop.
The movie Oppol released in 1980, produced by Rosamma George under the banner JMJ Arts, had bagged various national and state-level honours. Besides bagging state awards for the Best Film, the Best Director and the Best Script, Oppol went on to get the awards for the Second Best Film, Best Actor, Best Child Actor, and Best Playback Singer (Female) at the national level.
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The ‘Oppol’ movie was released in 1980, directed by K S Sethumadhavan on the script by M T Vasudevan Nair. The main cast included Menaka, Balan K Nair, Master Aravind and Shankaradi among other artists. The film is based on a short story written by M T by the same title, in 1975.
Singer S Janaki had received the National award for the Best Singer for the song ‘Ettumanoorambalathil Ezhunnallathu’ from the movie. M B Sreenivasan gave music to the lyrics by P Bhaskaran master for the four songs sung together by K J Yesudas and S Janaki.
Oppol’s cinematography was by Madhu Ambat and the editing was by T R Srinivasalu. The movie was distributed by Angel Films.
