Bharat Gopi: A Tribute

The death of Bharat Gopi has come as a big blow to the Malayalam Film Industry. It is not regularly that we come across actors of Gopi's calibre. His ouevre of films clearly exhibit his talent and range as an actor. The 80 odd characters that he has portrayed in his 33 year old eventful career are entirely different from each other and endearing, enchanting and entertaining at the same time. It is for no reason that he is widely regarded as the last word in method acting. Be it the the village simpleton in Kodiyettam which won him a National Award, tabalist Ayyappan in Yavanika, the lecherous husband who has an eye on his sister in law in Palangal, the retired judge in Sandhya Mayangum Neram, the deaf and mute painter in Ormakkayi, the helpless husband- father in Ente Mamattikuttiyammaikku, the cartoonish Panchayath President in Panchavadippalam, the retired army man who is in for the time of his life in Aarorumariyathe, the Professor who takes a liking for the next door teenage girl in Kattathe Kilikkoodu, the stone hearted family man in Adaminte Variyellu, the retired teacher in Rasathanthram or the musician in Nivedhyam- all of them entirely different from each other but remaining immensely unforgettable at the same time. Gopi's association with veteran directors like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Bharathan, Mohan, Fazil, K G George and K P Kumaran has given Malayalam cinema some of its best characters. He is one of those rare actors who changes his body language everytime to suit the character that he is portraying. The kind of energy the actor puts into his performance needs to be seen to be believed. It, therefore, was indeed a big blow for Malayalam Cinema when Gopi was partially paralysed in the early 90's. The actor withdrew into his own shell and due to the support and constant encouragement from his friends and colleagues like Bharathan, Mammootty, Nedumudi Venu and Oduvil Unnikrishnan the actor returned to the limelight with Paadheyam, a movie which he produced. In spite of not being in the pink of his health, it was difficult for the actor in Gopi to stay completely away from cinema and he took on as many characters as he could portray. Gopi also ventured into direction with Ulsavapittennu, widely considered as one of Mohanlal's best performances. His second directorial venture, Yamanam won him a national award and he also directed Ente Hrudayathinte Udama which unfortunately went unnoticed. Gopi also wrote a book on acting for which he was honored by the state award jury. Gopi has left behind him a wide variety of performances from which any aspiring actor can learn all about acting. His characters will definitely remain immortal and will be seen and heard for many more years to come. With Gopi passing away, curtains fall down on the illustrious career of the best actor Malayalam Cinema has ever seen. Jagathy Sreekumar had once opined that apart from him there are just 5 actors in Malayalam Cinema- Thilakan, Nedumudi Venu, Bharath Gopi, Oduvil Unnikrishnan and Mohanlal. We have already lost 2 of those 5 actors. Let us hope the almightly showers his blessings on the others in the list and thereby on Malayalam Cinema so that the viewers get to see many more inspired performances in future as well!