Malayalam cinema is at the crossroads but the milestones are still not quite discernible. The 148 films made last year and their performance or non-performance at theatres left many puzzling signals that are being deciphered by box office pundits and cineastes. But the change is evident. Here is a quick look at the signposts that marked the journey in Mollywood.
Year of debutants
Abrid Shine set the ball rolling with 1983 , his first film. It bowled out the rest of the films released in January 2014 with its simple but riveting tale of a cricketer chasing his dreams. Jude Anthany Joseph ( Ohm Shanthi Oshaana ), Syamdhar ( 7th Day ), Jibu Jacob ( Vellimoonga ) and Anvar Sadik ( Ormayundo Ee Mugham ), all newbie directors, bridged the real and reel worlds while chasing their dreams and won the approval of viewers. Their success proved that viewers were tired of watching clichéd gangsters and stiff-necked patriarchs whose moves were all familiar to a savvy audience. Fresh themes and slick narratives were the order of the day. But not all debutant filmmakers were lucky. Anil Nagendran’s Vasanthathinte Kanavazhikalil on P. Krishna Pillai had everything going for it but it still could not bring footfalls into cinemas.
Leading ladies, finally
Building on the momentum provided by the previous year, 2014 saw the heroines make a strong showing in Malayalam cinema. While Manju Warrier’s comeback in How Old Are You was the talk of the town, many fine actresses made a strong impact in several films though not all could win over the box office. Vivacious Nazriya Nazim had two thumping hits in Ohm Shanthi Oshaana (OSO) and Bangalore Days and was going great guns when she, like many other stars before her, decided to take a break from cinema after her marriage to Fahadh Faasil. Aparna Gopinath came up trumps in Venu’s slickly made thriller Munnariyippu . Anumol delivered a superlative performance in Chayilyam , while Lena, Srinda, Namitha Pramod, Asha Sarath, Keerthy Suresh, Anusree and Bhama impressed with their histrionics.
Star system takes a beating
The superstars took a back seat as the youth brigade came charging in with a slew of films that were not customised for the superstars. The young Turks were willing to take risks and that willingness provided them with the right breaks. Nivin Pauly was the star of 2014, followed closely by Fahadh Faasil, Dulquer Salmaan, Prithviraj and Jayasurya. Biju Menon’s Vellimoonga was the dark horse that came in from behind to become a winner. Kunchacko Boban did an excellent job in How Old Are You but his fans looked in vain for an Ordinary tale from the star.
Dileep’s Midas touch did not fail him although his choice of movies seems to following a pattern. Vineeth Sreenivasan’s sterling appearance in OSO was delightful but he seemed to taking it easy and appeared as hero towards the fag end of the year in Ormayundo Ee Mugham.
It was also the year when many character actors proved why they are irreplaceable. If Suraj Venjarmoodu won the national award for the best actor with his role in Biju’s Perariyathavar , Renji Panicker gave a pleasant surprise with his sterling roles in OSO and Njan . Actors such as Aju Varghese, Chemban Vinod Jose, Sunny Wayne, Vinay Forrt, Sudheer Karamana, Sunil Sugatha, Neeraj Madhav, Sasi Kalinga and Sreejith Ravi comfortably slipped into a variety of roles and displayed their versatility. Similarly, Lal, Mukesh, Innocent, Siddique, Jagadish, Vijayaraghavan, ….showed that provided the right role and script, each is a winner in his own right.
Indie filmmakers
2014 was the year of the indie filmmaker. Of the nine Malayalam films that featured in the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), only Ranjith’s Njan and M.P. Sukumaran Nair’s Jalamsham had veterans at the helm. The rest were made by a group of young and restless filmmakers, many of them debutants again, who were focussed on the kind of film they wanted to make. They went that extra mile for their movies and refused to bow down to the diktats of the market. Abrid’s 1983 , Muhammed Koya’s Alif , Salil Lal Ahmed’s Calton Towers , Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s Oraalppokkam , Santhosh T.K.’s Vidhooshakan and Sajin Babu’s Asthamayam Varey were their maiden directorial ventures. Manoj Kana’s critically acclaimed Chayilyam , released in January last, was also his first film. Sidhartha Siva’s Zahir did not have stars but it won stars for its theme and was featured in the completion section of IFFK along with Asthamayam Varey . None of them had big banners to back them. In spite of the difficulties of finding generous producers, these filmmakers took the road less travelled. Many of the flicks in this group were crowd funded or made with the help of contributions from friends and well-wishers. These filmmakers and the many waiting in the wings are trendsetters who are breaking the shackles of market-oriented producers.
Music makers
The yearning to break free of the establishment was echoed in the music scene as well. It was music for the ears for many talented music bands that have mushroomed in Kerala. They were no longer dependent on ganamelas for sustenance. Fusion, remix, reggae, rock and indigenous music enriched film music and gave us many songs to hum and tune in to suit our moods. Thaikkudam Bridge and Vidwan rocked the charts with their gender benders. Last year (2014) was the year when singers, musicians and composers charted their own records to catch the attention of music buffs. Even playback singers and veteran musicians tuned in with their bands to rejuvenate the soundscape.
Veterans’ turnout
Were the veterans missing from the scene? Not really. Although many of them failed to have their finger on the pulse of a young and demanding audience, there were a handful who were able to mark their presence and prove why they are masters of the craft of cinema. Veteran cinematographer-director Venu’s Munnariyippu was Mammootty’s best film in 2014. Joshy Mathew won the national award for Black Forest , a sensitive movie on the environment. Ranjith’s Njan provided glimpses of a past that is vanishing far too quickly into obscurity. Lal Jose retained his hold on the audience with Vikramadithyan, which lived up to his fans’ expectations. Shaji N. Karun’s Swapaanam, which was backed by some scintillating music by Sreevalsan J. Menon, did not drum up excitement at the marquee though it was perhaps the first Malayalam film to focus on Kerala’s rich tradition of percussion. B. Unnikrishnan’s Mohanlal-starrer Mr. Fraud was not in the same league as his Grandmaster in the previous year.
In the meantime, filmmakers like Aashiq Abu, Anjali Menon, Amal Neerad, Rajiv Ravi, Ranjith Shankar, Madhav Ramdas and Anil Radhakrishna Menon, who had scripted a new chapter in Malayalam cinema in the recent past, also had releases. But for Aashiq’s Gangster , which experienced a sudden death at the box office, all the others came good. Anjali’s Bangalore Days was a whopping hit that also went places in the metros with subtitles. It was the same with Rajiv’s Njan Steve Lopez and Amal’s Iyobinte Pusthakam. Anil’s Sapthamasree Thaskaraha was a well-made polished movie. Ramdas’ Suresh Gopi-starrer Apothecary was commended for its timeliness and relevance, nonetheless the narrative could have been tightened. Ranjith’s Varsham , with Mammootty in the lead, did put up a good show at the turnstiles, though it was a tearjerker (manna for all those devotees of soaps).
And the show goes on...
