Murali Gopy remembers his dad veteran actor Bharath Gopi on his birth anniversary

Actor-cum- writer Murali Gopy recently shared a post on Instagram in remembrance of his late father, Bharath Gopi, who was a veteran in the Malayalam film industry. Along with the post, he added a note that read: “Together, Today and forever as a soul presence beyond memories..”. Murali Gopy’s heart-felt words hit different levels when you look back at his father, Bharath Gopi’s journey into Malayalam cinema.

1937, November 2nd, marked the birth of V.Gopinathan Nair, aka Bharath Gopi, who later became an integral part of Malayalam cinema with his unique style of presenting characters onto the screen. Looking back into Bharath Gopi’s filmography, there haven’t been any characters that are less worthy of being mentioned. Which ranges from his most iconic character - ‘Tabalist Ayyappan’ in the 1982 film ‘Yavanika’ to ‘Shankaran Kutty’ in the film ‘Kodiyettam’, in which he won the prestigious National (Bharath) Award for Best Actor. Having initiated his career as a theatre actor, Bharath Gopi has also set his mark in Indian film history. He and Sadhu Meher are the only Indian actors to be awarded the National Best Actor award in their debut in the lead role.

As Marlon Brando once said, “ An actor is at most a poet and at least an entertainer”. These lines come on a par with Bharath Gopi’s style of acting as he has created an acting portfolio where he has balanced between serious roles and comedic roles which are equally memorable. His comedic role as ‘Dussasana Kuruppu’ in 1984 Malayalam political satire film ‘Panchavadi Palam’ and serious role in ‘Ente Mamattikkuttiyammakku’ has some sort of parallels which make them truly unique. He also took up the role of a director and made several notable films such as: ‘Njattadi’ (1979), ‘Ulsavapittennu’ (1988),’ and ‘Yamanam’ (1991), among others. In addition to several regional, national, and international awards, the thespian has also bagged the National award for best book on cinema for his book named ‘Abhinayam Anubhavam’.
Other of his most notable movies are ‘Palangal’ (1981), ‘Yavanika’ (1982), ‘Kaattathe Kilikoodu’(1983), ‘Ormakkayi’(1982).