Gollapudi National Award for Madhav Ramadasan

CHENNAI: The 15th Gollapudi Srinivas National Award for the best debut film will be presented to Madhav Ramadasan  for his film Melvilasom (Malayalam). Announced by Gollapudi Srinivas Memorial Foundation, the film  has been selected from 23 nominations across the country in many languages including Hindi, Malayalam, Bengali, English, Tamil, Marathi, Assamese and Kannada. The jury consisted of Sri Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, Sri Krishnan of Kavithalaya and Ad Film Maker Smt Latha Menon. This is for the 15th year in a row, the Best Indian Directorial Talent in feature films is being recognised by the Chennai-based foundation.Established in 1998, this trust envisages to perpetuate the memory of Gollapudi Srinivas, a young director, who tragically passed away in an accident during the shoot of his maiden venture in 1992.Melvilasom (The address), is an astonishingly gripping court room drama narrated in real time with no frills and no distractions   It is a brilliant narrative of a closed-door Army Court Martial starkly told.  For a debutant director, Ramadasan  has effectively displayed his control over the art of filmmaking in this 100-minute film, which is terse and brutally concise. The monotony that could creep in with such a mono-chromatic narrative has also been skillfully avoided.   The award comprising a cash prize of `1,50,000 and a memento will be presented at a glittering ceremony to be held on  August 12 at The Music Academy. Also, in a bid to make the award function entertaining and educational, a memorial lecture will be delivered by an eminent film personality. In the past, names such as Messers Naseeruddin Shah, Sunil Dutt, Goutham Ghose, Javed Akhtar, Mrinal Sen,   Shyam Bengal, Amol Palekar,  Goutam Ghose,  Girish Kasaravalli  and Girish Karnad have been part of this rewarding endeavour. These lectures will be eventually compiled into a book for the sake of posterity.Cinema is generally perceived as larger-than-life presentation with ample scope for glamourous stars and exotic locations. Madhav Ramadasan, in his maiden attempt, has rewritten the dynamics of filmmaking, with just six characters and no women  incredibly shot within a set. No doubt, this director has found the right address in Melvilasom.