Veteran Malayalam film director KG George passes away

Eminent director KG George, known for his standout Malayalam movies of the 1980s that took the middle path between art and commercial cinema and inspired a future generation of filmmakers, has died at an old age home in Kerala. He was 77.George’s notable films included the noir psychological thriller Irakal (Victims, 1985), Yavanika (The Curtain), the political satire Panchavadi Palam, and Adaminte Variyellu (Adam’s Rib, 1983) which told the story of three women seeking to escape patriarchal oppression.

Born Kulakkattil Geevarghese George in Kerala’s Thiruvalla, he entered the film industry as an assistant to the renowned Ramu Kariat. George made his directorial debut in 1975 with Swapnadanam, which received critical acclaim. A string of films followed in the next decade and a half, including Kolangal (Silhouettes, 1981), Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback (1983) and Mattoral (The Other Person, 1988). George slowed down in the early 1990s, and his last feature film Elavamkodu Desam was released in 1998.