By Baiju NT [ January 12, 2010 ]
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Cinema needs a discerning audience: Adoor

India's much acclaimed filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan feels that the best of cinema is not for the casual viewer.

Delivering his acceptance speech on receiving the D.Litt. honorary degree from the University of Kerala at a special convocation ceremony held at the Senate Hall in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, he said: "To have a fair understanding of an accomplished cinematic work, the audience has to be initiated, prepared with the right inputs of arts, literature, theatre, music, history, geography, world affairs and every conceivable sphere of human activity."

Terming cinema the most modern, complex and complete of the art forms, Gopalakrishnan also said: “Today, it is no longer the influence of bad cinema alone that you have to fight, but all the kitsch that is widely and persuasively popularised by television as well.” He highlighted the need to sensitise young minds in schools and universities to the aesthetics and nuances of film art.

Superstar Mammootty, the second recipient of the honorary degree, said Kerala had the potential to compete with the rest of the world in the pursuit of excellence. The third recipient of the degree, mridangam maestro Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman also spoke on the occasion.