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Television Lifetime Achievement Award for K. Kunhikrishnan
K. Kunhikrishnan has been chosen for the Television Lifetime Achievement Award instituted by the State government for contributions to Malayalam television.
Minister for Cultural Affairs Saji Cherian announced the award here on Friday.
The award carries a cash prize of ₹2 lakh, citation, and a statuette. A jury headed by Baiju Chandran, the award recipient of the previous year, and consisting of television programme/documentary directors Diana Silvester, Mohankumar Kallayil and Kerala State Chalachitra Academy secretary C. Ajoy as the member secretary.
The jury commented that Mr. Kunhikrishnan played a key role in laying the foundation for Malayalam television broadcasting. He contributed to the technical and creative growth of the medium of television for three decades from 1977 to 2005.
Played crucial role
Mr. Kunhikrishnan, who joined Doordarshan, Calcutta, as an assistant director in 1977, was in charge of Malayalam broadcasting from Madras while he was the deputy director of Doordarshan, Madras. As the first director of Doordarshan, Thiruvananthapuram, in 1984, he played a crucial role in shaping a generation of talents in the field of visual media. He led the television broadcasting that started in Kerala on January 1, 1985. In 1987, he played a leading role in transforming the Thiruvananthapuram Doordarshan studio into the largest studio in India by increasing its technical facilities.
In the early 1990s, he took on the challenge posed by the proliferation of private channels and spearheaded the work to popularise Doordarshan. He retired in 2005 after becoming the first Malayali to become the Additional Director General of Doordarshan at the national level.
The jury assessed that he has also made commendable contributions to the academic positioning of the television medium through his writings such as the books Televisionum Samoohavum, Television: Veekshanam Vishakalam, and the article Pralayakaalathe Malayalam Television, which won the 2018 Kerala State Television Award.
