Kerala is renowned for its rich art and cultural milieu. Even much before the advent of cinema, the people of Kerala were acquainted with moving images on the screen through the ancient art form ‘Tholpavakkuthu’ (Puppet Dance). This art form was displayed at village temple festivals and the puppets were made of leather with flexible joints. These joints were stirred using sticks and the shadow of these moving puppets are trapped on a screen using light from the rear area, thus creating dramatic motion images on the screen. Kerala filmmakers utilized this legacy of Kerala’s visual culture. Thus they presented cinema in a unique way that appealed greatly to the masses. Cinema is the most popular genre of art that has developed as superior form of entertainment and an effective means of communication with the mass in Kerala since 1928. Kerala movies are the blend of literary, architectural and other varied art forms and reflect the pertinent and significant social issues. Malaylam films enjoy utmost popularity in Kerala and thus these films exert much influence on their culture.
Malayalam cinema forms not only an essential part of Kerala entertainment, but also a notable element of the Indian Cinema. Kerala boasts of one of the most creative film-producing industries of India is one is one of the rare places in India, where the audiences really enjoy watching the art films.
Some of the preeminent films in India have been produced in Malayalam. 'Chemmeen'(1965), 'Swayamvaram' (1972), 'Nirmalyam'(1973), 'Chidambaram' (1985), 'Piravai' (1988) and 'Kathaporushan' won the National awards for the best film.
The award- winning Malayalam filmstars including actor and actresses were Balan K Nair, P J Antony, Gopi Premji, Mammutty and Sarada, Monisha and Sobhana. Best Children Films were 'Manu Uncle', 'My Dear Kuttichathan' and so on. Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Aravindan, Shaji, T.V. Chandran and Jayaraj are the esteemed film directors who won the National Awards.
The father figure of Malayalam films is Thikkurisi Sukumaran Nair. He had versatile talent and was a script writer, lyricist, director and actor. The ruling heroes of Malayalam film territory were Sathyan and Prem Nazir. Some of the renowned heroes of the present day are Mohan Lal, Mammutty and Suresh Gopy, Jayaram and Mukesh .The heroines are Padmini, Madhu, Ragini, Sheela, Sarada and Jaya Bharati, Ambika, Menaka, Manisha, Sobhana, Manju Warrier and Divya Unny and others. Prem Nazir was received the Padma Bhushan Award and Thikkurissai received the Padma Sree. Padma Sree was also awarded to Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Gopi, O.N.V. Kurup, and Mammutty while M.T. Vasudevan Nair received the Gyan Pith Award winner. Since 1928, Malaylam movies have been providing inexorable entertainment to Kerala masses.
Let’s make a journey backward to trace back the origin of these Malaylam Movies or Cinema culture and try to get a glimpse of its bygone days.
The Early Era
In 1928, the first Malayalam movie named Vigathakumaran was released in Kerala. It was a silent movie that was directed and produced by J. C. Daniel, a businessman who had no film experience and subsequently the film turned out to be a commercial failure. Vigathakumaran was followed by Marthanda Varma, a film based on a novel by C. V. Raman Pillai and was produced in 1933. However owing to some legal issues it never made it to the theatres.
The first talkie in Malayalam was the Balan which was released in 1938. S Nottani directed the film while Muthukulam Raghavan wrote the screenplay and the songs. Until the first film studio, Udaya was established in Kerala in 1947, Malayalam movies continued to be produced by the Tamil producers.
The first cinema hall with a manually operated film projector was established in Trichur in Kerala by K.W Joseph in 1907. Then the first electric film projector known as the'Jose Electrical Bioscope' was established in Trichur by Jose Kattukkaran in 1913. Gradually many cinema halls sprang other major cities of Kerala.
Jeevithanouka (The boat of life) of 1951 which portrayed the ego clashes of a joint family was the first ‘super hit’ Malayalam film. Thikkurishi Sukumaran Nair became the first 'superstar' of Malayalam cinema after the success of this film.
In 1954, Neelakkuyil(The Blue Cuckoo) was the first authentic Malayali film with dealt with the social issue of untouchibility and was scripted by famed Malayali novelist Uroob and directed by P. Bhaskaran. This melodramatic film bagged the silver medal of the President. Newspaper Boy (1955) reflected neo-realism in cinema and was the product of hard work by a group of college students and was directed by P Ramadas.
The Growth: 1960s
In 1961 Kandam Bacha Coat, the colored film in Malayalam was released and Bhargavi Nilayam (1964) and many othe notable films like Asuravithu Murapennu, Nagarame Nandi and Thulabharam were directed by A Vincent. Chemmeen
Chemmeen (Prawn) directed by Ramu Karyat in 1965 was the first South Indian film to win the President's Golden Lotus Award for the best film. The movie was based on a renowned novel by Thakazhi Shivashankara Pillai. This film took great pride in exhibiting the huge star cast and also bringing together the finest talents of Indian film industry- Salil Chowdhari for music, Markes Burtly for cinematography and Hrishikesh Mukherjee for editing.
Malayalam Parallel films/Malayalam Art Cinema of the early 1970s and 1980s
In the 70s era the development of film society movement and the viewing of world classics enforced a radical change in Malayalam film sensitivity in Kerala. A new trend often termed as the 'New Wave Malayalam Cinema' or the 'Malayalam Parallel Cinema' came into existence
. The eminent director Adoor Gopalakrishnan's first film Swayamvaram (1972) transferred Malayalam Movies to the International film arena. In 1973, Nirmalyam, which won the President's Gold Medal for the best film was directed by M. T. Vasudevan Nair. G. Aravindan directed the Uttarayanam in 1974. Other famous movies directed by him were Kanchana Seeta (1977), Thampu (1978) and so on.
Another major course of Malayalam cinema that emerged during the 1970s was the 'middle-stream cinema' and was mainly directed by directors like K G George, Padmarajan and Bharathan.
The film Elipathayam in 1981directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan and bagged the British Film Institute award. Other significant movies directed by this feted director were Mukhamukham (1984), Anantharam (1987) Mathilukal (1989), Vidheyan and so on.Movies like Piravi, Vanaprastham, Ponthan Mada were other acclaimed movies.
Golden Age of Malayalam cinema
The later epoch from (late 1980s to early 1990s) is regarded as the Golden Era of Malayalam cinema by most critics and audiences.
This period of Malayalam movies is marked by detailed screenplays, excellent direction by talented directors, and a plot reflecting of day-to-day mundane life. The simple narration is combined with melancholic elements and humor.
The movie Perumthachan (1990), directed by Ajayan displayed superb cinematography and lighting resembling motion pictures. The movies of this period had the backdrop of soft, melodious music composed by Johnson and others.
Many of the movies belonged to the transition between the art cinemas and commercial cinemas in the Malayalam film industry. Instances of such films were Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha (1989). These were matched with movies like Mathilukal directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Kireedam (1989) directed by Sibi Malayil and written by Lohitadas, (1989), 'Amaram'(1991) directed by Bharathan and 'Sargam'(1992) directed by Hariharan.
Directors like Priyadarshan and Sathyan Anthikkad added the tinge of humor to these movies. The hilarious movies or comedy films were Ramji Rao speaking (1989) and Harihar Nagar (1990). Other noteworthy movies of this period were His Highness Abdullah (1990) directed by Sibi Malayil, Piravi (1989) by Shaji N. Karun, Abhayam and the motion film Daisy (1988).
Popular Malayalam Movies/Commercial Movies
The movies of the later phase that followed the golden period contained the substance of the golden period but lacked their sparkling wit and humor. However they had an outstanding narrative technique that still appealed to the masses.
Movies of this period include 'Bharatham' (1991) by Sibi Malayil, Kaalapaani (1996) by Priyadarshan, and the 'Manichitrathazhu' (1993) by Fazil which won national award. 'Sphadikam' (1995) and 'Desadanam' (1997) directed by Bhadran and Jayaraaj respectively were applauded by Keralite audience. Swaham (1994) directed by Shaji N.Karun became the first malayalam film to compete in the Cannes international Film Festival in 1994.
Current Scenario (late 1990s - mid 2000s)
The quality of Malayalam cinema started deckling after the films of early1990s and lost its splendor of the past.
The movies of the current age are farcical comedies providing large-scale entertainment to dolt crowds. Such movies are devoid of any moral or artistic message. These movies include Meesamadhavan (2002) by Lal Jose and Kunjikkoonan directed by Sasi Shankar (2002). However distinguished exceptions to these were the motion pictures Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala by Srinivasan (1998) and Vanaprastham (1999) directed by Shaji N Karun. Rajamanikyam was also the super-hit Malayalam movie of 2005.
Udayananu Tharam, a megahit was jointly released by Mohanlal and Sreenivasan.
This period also saw the mass departure of Malayalam film technicians to participate in other multi- lingual films. Priyadarshan, Santosh Sivan, Sabu Cyril, Ravi K. chandranand others gained recognition and were popularly acclaimed as great technicians throughout India for their creative cinematography and have worked for Bollywood as well as and Tamil film industry.
