Scripting success in Mollywood

New generation scriptwriters in Malayalam industry seem all eager to make their own films

With Mollywood scriptwriters of the day fast turning into directors, it seems as if the easiest way to filmmaking in Malayalam is through scriptwriting.

It took the late Lohithadas and Ranjith numerous films to learn the nuances of filmmaking before eventually deciding to don the director’s hat.

Lohithadas scripted more than 30 films, which include classics like

Thaniyavarthanam ,

Dasaradham, Amaram, Bharatham, and

Chakoram to name a few, before directing

Bhoothakannadi . Similarly, Ranjith scripted major hits in the history of Malayalam film industry such as

Devasuram, Summer in Bethlehem and

Narasimham before turning director with

Ravanaprabhu , a sequel to

Devasuram .

However, the new generation writers seem impatient to wait that long. The latest to jump on the bandwagon is James Albert who made his directorial debut on Friday with the Fahad Fazil-starrer

Mariyammukku . Albert started his scriptwriting career with the hugely popular campus movie Classmates in 2006 and went on to pen five more films in the next seven years.

Dileesh Nair who scripted hits such as Salt n Pepper and Da Thadiya besides writing dialogues for Idukki Gold made his directorial debut recently with Tamaar Padaar .

Sachi who scripted films such as

Chocolate, Robin Hood, Makeup Man, Seniors and

Doubles along with co-writer Sethu before independently scripting

Run Baby Run and

Chettayees is also set to take the director’s mantle. He will make his directorial debut this year with a film likely to pair Prithviraj and Biju Menon in the lead.

M.P. Praveen