P. A. Backer

P. A. Backer Biography

P. A. Backer was one of the prominent figures and geniuses of Malayalam cinema. He has been the part of many landmark movies, though not as a producer or director, but as an assistant. He is mostly remembered for his directorial debut, Kabani Nadi Chuvannappol, a bold movie about a leftist political activist released during the Indian Emergency. Though he and his team had to face a lot of troubles he finally completed the project and edited it also. It was his first movie as an editor too. Though the movie had to face serious ‘cuts’ from censor board for its leftist ideas, the movie accumulated numerous awards and is still regarded as the masterpiece of this genius. The movie received Kerala State Film Award for Best Film as well as National award for best regional film. In 1985, his movie, Narayana Guru based on the life of Narayana Guru won Nargis Dutt award for best film on National integration at National award section.

Born in 1940 in Thrissur, Backer belongs to the genre of new wave directors of Malayalam cinema during the era of 1970’s and 1980’s. Backer worked as a journalist for Kuttikal and Poomottukal during his college days. He has been the part of many landmark movies of Malayalam during 1950’s and 1960’s though in minor roles. Neelakuyil – the first Malayalam movie to receive silver medal from Indian President, Backer was a production boy. Chemmeen – the first Malayalam film to win best film award at National awards, Backer was its production Manager. He was the producer of Aval and Olavum theeravum. Thus Backer has stood as a phenomenon in the different development stages of Malayalam cinema.

His big entry was 1970 movie, Olavum theeravum where he was its producer. The movie won the best film and best cinematography at state awards. Debut with Kabani Nadi Chuvannappol (When Kabani river turned red) in 1975, he has directed a few more movies before he died on 22 November 1993, aged 53, at his residence in Thiruvananthapuram. His last film as a director was Innaleyude Baaki (The Balance of Yesterday, 1988). He has won three National awards of which two of the movies, Chappa and Manimuzhakkam won best movie in regional category. He has directed only 11 movies in his career.

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Updated: January 25, 2014