Govindan Aravindan (23 January 1935 – 15 March 1991) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, musician, cartoonist, and painter. He was one of the pioneers of parallel cinema in Malayalam. He was known for his unorthodox way of filmmaking; he changed his cinematic forms consistently and experimented in storytelling without regular narrative styles. He studied at University College, Trivandrum. Before venturing into the film field, he was an established cartoonist. He had also worked with documentaries and theatre. He also occasionally directed music for other filmmakers. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri in 1990. Biography G. Aravindan was the son of comedy writer M. N. Govindan Nair. Aravindan started his professional life as a cartoonist for the journal Mathrubhumi. He established himself as a cartoonist in the early 1960s with his cartoon series Cheriya Manushyarum Valiya Lokavum which dealt with the social encounters of its central characters, Ramu and Guruji, mingled with political and social satire. After that series ended in 1973, he drew cartoons for other journals but these were very sporadic. At one point, Aravindan diverted his attention to theatre and music. He played a major role in establishing theatre and music clubs Navarangam and Sopanam. He became associated with eminent theatre figure Kavalam Narayana Panicker which accelerated his activities in the field of professional play. They created several plays like Kaali and Avanavan Kadamba. Aravindan was working as an officer in the Rubber Board when he got associated with artist Devan, playwright Thikkodiyan and writer Pattathuvila Karunakaran. The early works of Aravindan were influenced by the group; for example, the spiritualism factor which can be seen in his early works can be attributed to satirist Sanjayan and mystic paintings of K. C. S. Paniker. The first film directed by Aravindan, Uttarayanam (1974), came out as a product from this group; the film was produced by Karunakaran and the story was written by Thikkodiyan. The film, which exposes opportunism and hypocrisy set against the backdrop of the Independence struggle, was inspired by Aravindan's own cartoon series Cheriya Lokavum Valiya Manushyarum (Small World and Big People). The film is about Ravi, an unemployed young man, who has to face a series of encounters during his search for a job. Ravi reflects on the past struggles of the anti-British freedom fighters he has learned about from his paralyzed father. He eventually meets