The problems haunting contemporary Malayalam film scene — both of the commercial and art genres — continue to persist.
On the one hand is the shrinkage in the number of theatres. The large, ‘conventional’ theatres, most of which were built during the 70s and 80s, suddenly became ‘prime properties’ and are fast being gobbled up by real estate speculators and converted into malls or premium apartments, thus limiting ‘box office’ options of filmmakers.
On the other hand, new media facilities have made copying and sharing of films through personal and unofficial networks child’s play, thus eating into the potential revenues of cinema. Unable to convert the new media platforms into viable and vibrant revenue models, or to reach out to the vast expanding audience base of the Malayali diaspora all over the world and thus convert them from consumers of Malayalam cinema into its investors and promoters, the only theatre outlets left for filmmakers now are the multiplex screens. Until a few years ago, it was the television industry that helped cinema to sustain, by buying films for telecast at reasonable amounts and thus acting as a buffer against the vagaries of the box office.
It was in this background or despite it that the most significant turn in Malayalam cinema industry occurred in recent years, when many youngsters — actors and actresses, directors and technicians — entered the field with low budget films. As a result the number of films being produced shot up phenomenally; from an average of 75 films per year during the five- year period of 2007 to 2011, it rose to 127 films in 2012, 158 in 2013 and 125 films (so far) in 2014! Such a boost in production was facilitated by the affordability of digital technology that made possible ‘artisanal’ film production with a small crew, which minimised dependence on institutional structures for production and post-production.
What made this revenue model work was the support of television channels that used to pay a fair amount to buy the films, procure them, which helped these new productions to sustain and continue in business. But in recent years, the television industry in Kerala, sensing their inevitability in the scheme of things, began to put their foot down with regard to purchase of new films and the rates offered for the movies.
Finding themselves in a buyer’s market for their products, monopolised by a handful of channels, the new film producers were unsettled by the sudden turn of events. Without the guarantee of returns from the sales of television rights, their revenue models collapsed; they were left in a no man’s land without any outlets for their films, neither were theatres available to them (which were flooded with super star films or films from Hindi, Tamil or Hollywood, and which, in fact, command higher rates than Malayalam films) nor would the television channels buy their products.
Even in this situation of impasse and uncertainty, there is no decline in the number of films. Youngsters are churning out film after film, desperately seeking ways to reach out to the viewer. On the other side, averse to any kind of risks, the television channels still stick to their safe super star bets and ‘box office-proven’ successes.
However, there is a silver lining to this bleak scenario. Last year, there were several films that were produced outside the ‘mainstream’ industry formats that made their mark on the film festival circuits and won several prestigious awards. Sudevan’s Crime No 89 , K.R. Manoj’s Kanyaka Talkies and Manoj Kana’s Chayilyam , completely did away with conventional marketing/exhibition networks and made its mark in the festival circuits and won several prestigious awards too.
This year too, some significant films have been made outside the commercial mainstream circuit: Sajin Babu’s Unto the Dusk , Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s Oralpokkam, Jalamsam , Sidhartha Siva’s Zahir (which premiered at and was the only Malayalam film entry at the Busan International Film Festival in Korea a few months ago), and Kuttippuram Palam by Prathap Joseph are some of the movies that keep the flag of independent and experimental cinema alive in Malayalam.
Sidhartha’s Zahir is a heart wrenching narrative about male sexuality in Kerala, focussing upon the gradual inner collapse of a young man, whose traumatised love and sexual yearning are sublimated into an infatuation with a mannequin in a textile shop he works in. This film is a brutal and clinical examination of the dark and repressive male sexual imagination of Kerala.
Unto the Dusk is about the spiritual journey of a young man. A student at a seminary, he is accused of necrophilia, which pushes him into what turns out to be journey of discovery and also unlearning. This personal exploration triggered by the guilt about one’s own carnality here transforms into one that seeks itself in the relationship between man and nature.
Oralpokkam (Six Feet High) is yet another journey of a man (played by Prakash Bare) who is thrown out of his ‘free’ urban, promiscuous life by the sudden and mysterious disappearance of his estranged lover (played with brilliant ease by Meena Kandaswamy). Despite himself, he is obsessively drawn towards a journey in search for her, and in the process, find himself in a totally otherworldly-yet-all-too-real landscapes and life situations, in and around the post-disaster Kedarnath in the Himalayan ranges. This journey of the protagonist and his restless search for his lost love is layered with evocative visuals of the ruins left behind by the disastrous landslide that struck Kedarnath and its pristine surroundings.
Denied mainstream platforms and avenues, these films, filmmakers and their filmmaking processes are trying to tread a lonely path. The alternative discourses and art practices that used to nurture and support them too are shrinking. The question that haunts art cinema in Kerala is what kind of institutional and public support we can offer to these ventures that seek to expand our horizons of art and experience.
