John Abraham (chintha.com)

Trained at the FTII, Pune John Abraham created a deep impact in Malayalam cinema with only four films in his credit in his short life span. His first film ‘Vidyarthikale Ithile Ithile’ (1971) was considered by John himself as a worthless film. ‘Agraharathil Kazhuthai’ (1977) was made in Tamil and is considered his masterpiece. Through the tale of donkey, which strays into a village of orthodox Brahmins, John strikes at the roots of religious orthodoxy and had to face a stiff opposition from them. ‘Cheriyachente Kroora Krithyangal’ (1979) uses Christian and feudal symbols in the backdrop of Kuttanadu, John’s home land. When he attacked the traditionalists in his earlier film ‘Agraharathil Kazhutai’, in ‘Cheriyachente Kroora Krithyangal’, he attacked the feudal system and police atrocities during the feudal period. John constituted the Odessa Collective, aiming at production and exhibition of good cinema with active participation of the general public, without the intervention of market forces. Odessa's first film and John's last ‘Amma Ariyan’(1979) re-wrote all the conventions of filmmaking. They raised money for the film by traveling from village to village, beating drums and asking for contributions for the 'people's cinema'. He also took active part in street play movement. ‘Amma Ariyan’, made in a documentary format is embedded in the highly turbulent political era of Kerala.