Is Malayalam cinema breathing its last? If so, Why?

Is Malayalam cinema breathing its last? If so, Why?

It is a fact that something drastic is happening to Malayalam Cinema and that it has been ailing badly for quite some time now. Something that requires the serious attention of film lovers, is the big question whether Malayalam cinema is breathing its last? If I were to be asked this question, my response would be that Malayalam cinema is crippled, handicapped, infected badly, bed ridden and is on ventilator support. Unless something path breaking is done, the obituary date for Malayalam cinema is not far away.

The wheel has come a full circle for MC from being the most innovative, aesthetic, highly recognized, visually rich to clichéd, stereotyped, star centric, egoistic and visually stale. This is something that has happened over the years as a result of un professional and unsystematic approach. MC was never considered a professional industry and perhaps that is the biggest reason for its downfall.

The regional media which can boast of the films of the class of Chemmeen, Ara Naazhika Neram, Elipatthayam, Ammaye Kaanan, Madanotsavam, Thaniyavarthanam, Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha, Kireedom, Dasharatham, Bharatham is not fighting to find a foot hold, which is very fortunate. This industry boasts of the best talents in Indian Cinema right from performers to technicians. So, there is no dearth of talent here. The problem is with the clichéd and stereotyped content, unprofessional approach, star centric approach, self imposed limitations on the reach of cinema and above all, the unwillingness to change and experiment.

Take the sixties, seventies and eighties and you will find that MC was right there in the top. MC had a very influential presence in Indian cinema and it was one industry that everyone looked up to. It used to churn out the best in the industry and used to be the model for filmmakers from any other part of the world. There was a healthy competition among the filmmakers in MC and this helped much to improve the quality and content of cinema that were made in those days. Also, there was strong relation between cinema and literature at those times. Many works of MT, Basheer, Urub, SKP, Thakazhi were interpreted by filmmakers in their own creative way and presented in celluloid. This ensured that there was a creative interpretation of the works of literature which opened up and expose multiple facades of the same fruit.

Another most important factor which led to the making of good cinema was the strong theatre movement in Kerala. The theatre movement, which is undoubtedly the mother of all kinds of cinema was very strong in Kerala under the aegis of renowned theatre clubs like KPAC, Kalidasa, Kalavedi and N N Pillal’s team. This movement became more relevant during the emergency period in the late seventies as people saw this as a medium of expression of their thoughts, anger and frustration. The number of political satires, dramas and visions that were enacted on stage proves the strength of theatre movement in Kerala. So, naturally what happened was that cinema had to compete with theatre to get a strong foothold and hence film makers gave more emphasis to the content, quality and presentation which raised the bar.

Many strong film discussion forums were prevalent in Kerala during those times which ensured that films get discussed among a wider audience. This was very productive as people who had knowledge of cinema and who seriously viewed cinema either as a profession or as a medium could come under a common roof and discuss their thoughts. This facilitated the flow of ideas in all directions and ensures that productive discussion happened at all times. These venues helped filmmakers and aspirants to enhance their vision, focus, knowledge and thoughts about cinema. More than all these, such venues tempered filmmakers to view their own films with a critic’s eye.

Nila / Merryland, Udaya, Sobhana, AVM, - Does all these ring a bell? If not, it better because these production houses were very prominent in Kerala till the early eighties. The production houses had a systematic approach of film making and ensured that there is a healthy competition between them to be the best. Since they had a professional approach to film making, it ensured that the quality of the films never compromised for quantity. Also, failures did not affect their journey towards producing good cinema. The in house model that they practised ensured that a close collaboration between all departments of film making existed which proved beneficial to the final product.

Stardom was and is always synonymous with the film industry. Stardom is the twin brother of celluloid. The folks associated with the MC film industry during the old days were grounded and professional. This contributed much to the progress of cinema ands there was n communication blockades anywhere. All the channels of communication were open from all angles and hence ensured that cinema related communication could flow in all directions. The films made during those period were theme centric and not here centric. The films made during those times had a protagonist and not a hero. I say that because I maintain a strong distinction between a protagonist and a hero. Since they did not have the burden of heroism in the films, they had the broad options to innovate, experiment and try out different themes in celluloid.

A strong parallel cinema movement existed in Kerala till the early nineties. The works and thoughts of Aravindan, KG George, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, John Abraham, P A Bakker laid a strong foundation to serious cinema in Kerala. Heir legacy was carried forward by Bharathan, Padmarajan, Hariharan and T V Chandran who infact took cinema to a new heights. The films they made at those times still remain fresh in theme and presentation and are definitely an encyclopedia for budding filmmakers.

Commercial cinema also saw its height during this period till the early nineties with many film makers proving their mettle in this arena. Film makers experimented with various themes and concepts and presented their ideas on celluloid in such a way that the mass and class audience could imbibe them equally. Ramu Karyat, Sankaran Nair, Krishnan Nair, K Sethumadhavan, Kunchako, I V Sasi, Sibi Malayil and Joshi ensured that the heights of commercial cinema were maintained as long as possible.

During the nineties and the first decade of two thousand, the number of rich people in the state increased owing to globalization. Many of them ventured into film production without even knowing what a story board is. Film makers were mere puppets in their hands as many of them saw this as an opportunity to make money. This led to the downfall of perhaps India’s greatest aesthetic film making community. The producers who invested money saw an easy way to get returns and that was to erase the distinction between hero and protagonist and spreading a make belief that both are essentially the same. This led to many Kings, Narasimhams and Commissioners in the industry leaving the soul and essence of good cinema to starve to death. One king or one Narasimham or one Commissioner is fine and is very much necessary BUT too many of these feels like a totally spent force.

The technicians’ right from the director to the spot boy was not opting or willing for a change in the way things are done and in the creative department. The typical concept of a Malayalam cinema has not really changed much from the eighties and that is the prime cause of its downfall. No one was willing to freak out from the shackles of conventionality and experiment (a la Kamal Hassan act) and this led to duplicates and wannabe hitmakers filling the market place and leaving it crowded without any essence. This best example of this is the movie College Kumaran which had a whooping budget of 5 crores. Mohanlal laughed al the way to the bank with his salary of 1.5 crores but what good did that cinema do to MC?

The inability and the uninterested attitude towards change clubbed with total un professional film production methodologies paved the way for the downfall of MC. In addition to this, the amount of sycophancy increased by leaps and bounds during this period leading to Mammootty and Mohanlal bring the pivot of Malayalam cinema. There is no harm in this but the lapse is that no staircase is being put for the next generation to climb up. That is where the biggest blow is. The sycophants are self styled watchdogs of MC and they have ensured that there is no bridge for new comers to climb up.

To add oil to fire, there are innumerable unions and associations in MC and everyone wants to prove that they are more important in the industry and command the industry than anyone else. This egoistic attitude and the fight for proving the supremacy of the unions proved to the nemesis of MC. The government’s disinterested attitude towards MC industry further aggravated the situations. MC is not recognized as an industry in Kerala and hence no tax exemptions apply to MC. The self limited reach of cinema is a clichéd statement that all film makers make but the question that needs to be addressed is – What is done to ensure that it is mitigated? The answer is NOTHING.

There is no conscious effort by the industry or the government to ensure that the life of MC is extended beyond the M phenomenon. My line of thought is that MC will turn to be like Bengali, Assamese, Bhojpuri or Oriya cinema after the M era. There would still be films made in Malayalam but just a handful a year and that too lesser quality ones. No landmark work would be created in MC. The MC land would be dominated by Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and English cinema. I think the only one category of films that would survive the tide is perhaps soft porn films in MC, which are much popular and in demand all over India.

Take the quality of the theatres all over Kerala. One work to describe them is pathetic. This is another reason for the downfall of cinema. Who would want to watch cinema in a stinking, crowded, dilapidated movie hall in this twentieth century? People would better wait for 3 months for the DVD to be release and then watch it at home. Isn’t that a better option?

Fans associations in Kerala have turned to be terrorist groups rather than a bunch of cine goers. They are more interested in dictating terms to film makers than promoting the films of their favorite stars. I was also associated with an association of this kind few years back. At that time, we were more focused in promoting out favorite star’s movie and ensuring that it reached out to the maximum audience across Kerala. These days, what they do is to make a mess of anything and everything happening in MC thereby impacting even their favorite star’s stardom. They have no focus and have turned to be a bunch of hooligans. They think that they are a major force in MC but the fact is that they are nothing but dried bull shit. They cannot do anything in the industry as they neither can make their fav star’s movie a hit not make other star’s movie a flop. That is the sad and naked truth which these hooligans do not realize. The only thing that can do is get tickets and watch the movie on the first day of release.

MC has turned to be one of the worst film industry considering the degradation in quality over the decades. It is a pity that the industry which has the best talent in India is wasted due to an un professional attitude.

I have a 10 point agenda to put forward for the resurrection of MC and listed below are those.

Ban all associations in MC. Club all the associations into one and this should be separated from trade unionism.
Form a board of educated and experienced management professionals and let the control the production of all films made in the industry. This will ensure that film production is structured and made professional in all way. If a project is not feasible. It is better to drop it rather than proceeding with it.
Form a film advisory board with 60:40 ratio of film makers, film evangelists and industry veterans from Kerala (60%) and rst of the country (40%). This needs to be a non political body and their focus should be to ensure that quality is brought back to MC along with commercial upliftment in a generic level apart from the M pivot.
Recognize MC as an industry and give tax exemptions wherever possible. Give tax exemptions to films that are not doin well or the so called parallel cinema ao that some light can be shed there.
Another key focus of the advisory board should be to make progressive films in Kerala. It is high time we move away from the naluketu, deepam-deepam, kathir mandapan style of cinema. The board should approve films that are progressive and innovative. Big budget films should target India as a whole rather than Kerala alone. That is how MC can make a mark in Indian cinema now.
Encourage youngsters and fresh blood to come into the industry. Provide scholarships for people who want to join the industry. Let the government fund the initial couple of projects of the film makers till they get a strong foothold in the industry.
Revive studios in Kerala and give incentives to build production houses in Kerala. Let this be considered as SeZ and let tax exemptions come for these till the time the industry scales up to the expected range.
Ban all fan associations in Kerala and declare them as terrorist organizations.
Revive theatre movement in Kerala and form more educational institutions associated with theatre and cinema.
Improve the quality of the theatres in the state - Provide ample parking, Make all theatres digital, Implement advance ticket issue system..etc

It was a pain writing this piece, as I felt very depressed at the state of MC, being a person who has followed MC from a very young age. I do not have the stamina to write anything further in this regard. Lemme stop this by quoting Shakespeare “ My heart is in the coffin with Caesar and I must pause till it comes back to me” – Mark Antony in Julius Caesar.