2009 to 2019: One Decade of Glorious Transformation of Malayalam Cinema
In a nutshell:
Mammootty did Pazhassi Raja in 2009; he does Mamankam today, not a bit aged; Mohanlal awed us with Bhramaram, in which writer Murali Gopy acted; he raked in INR200 crore and more with Lucifer, written by Murali, and directed by Prithviraj, who got a fresh lease of box-office life with Puthiya Mukham, also in 2009.
Suresh Gopi played a communist in Bhoomi Malayalam; he now fights them at the polls; Jayaram did My Big Father with Ajay Kumar alias Guinness Pakru in 2009; and now did My Great Grandfather; VM Vinu directed Sreenivasan and Vineeth in Makante Achan and has brought Sreenivasan with Dhyan in Kuttimama (some things never change eh?).
Rima Kallingal and Asif Ali debuted in R Syamaprasad’s Ritu; Asif has a fine line-up; Rima is blazing her own trail; Jayasurya was a rising second-fiddler; he gets to play reel-life Sathyan now having proved his acting chops; Aashique Abu and Renjith Shankar debuted as directors in 2009; today, they do redefine Malayalam cinema; and last but not the least, the admirable talents that shone through in the anthology film Kerala Café, which also marked the return of Fahadh Faasil, now rule Malayalam cinema with their creative flair.
What a blasted decade of transformation indeed!
Here we go:
What an effing decade indeed for Malayalam cinema, this has been!
2009 to 2019: May creative bankruptcy rust in peace and many all the talents shine and bask in limelight.
Let formula make way to finesse; let undiluted passion for cinema take on the vain glory, with directors such as Lijo Jose Pellissery and ace talents such as Rajeev Ravi ushering in a new order where bold experimentation and debunking formula is the rule.
It is time to celebrate Malayalam cinema — and the past decade will tell you why.
The context:
Backlog referencing is typically a lazy man’s job. And that is why I hate the year-enders, which mean practically nothing more than a catalogue of what was up the 12 months past.
So why then this exercise at looking back 10 years of Malayalam cinema?
For one, Malayalam cinema is witnessing another unprecedented era of creative flourish — much like the commercial new waves of the 80s.
If we lost out the 90s and the first decade of the millennium to star excesses and utter trite, let us say that 2009 marked, in several ways, the beginning of the new era of creativity — one that took a few more years before it became popularly lexicon-ed as ‘new generation’ cinema.
What, anyway, happened in 2009?
Well, on the surface of it, nothing monumental.
Mammootty and Mohanlal, the bellwether actors and industry heavyweights, continued their mixed-run of box office success. Their bad films crashed (as they always do), their good ones did decent business, and their it became even more evident that the two needed author-backed roles than fanfare to pull off superhits.
Mammootty had eight films and Mohanlal six. While Mammootty disappointed with Love in Singapore and Ee Pattanathil Bhootham, Mohanlal let down even his die-hard fans with Red Chillies, Sagar Alias Jackie, Angel John and the experimental one-day-shot Bhagavan.
Yet, as the success of their staying power, shows, some of the more judiciously chosen films made the Malayalis love them even more. It must have been a tight race at the awards, for example, when the jury had to weigh Mammootty’s performance in Paleri Manikyam (director Ranjith) against Mohanlal’s in Bhramaram (directed by Blessy). Mammootty won the state award eventually.
Mammootty had a more distinguished ouvre in 2009 indeed with Jayaraj’s Loud Speaker, the magnum opus Pazhassi Raja and the commercially successful Chattambinadu. Mohanlal meanwhile also found box office solace in director Roshan Andrews’ Ividam Swargamanu.
Cut to 2019:
Mammootty and Mohanlal have both marched through thundering commercial success with Madhura Raja and Lucifer, and whatever the box-office hullaballoo claims, deliver us such pathetic duds as Ittimani.
Mammootty brings out one of his career-best in Unda; goes historic in Mamankam, looking pretty much the same; crosses over to Telugu to do a biopic, Yatra; and has popular entertainment vehicles such as Ganagandharvan to his credit.
Mohanlal has Lucifer 2 is in the works and has announced his directorial ambition with the magnum opus Barroz: The Guardian of Gama’s Treasure.
Nothing has changed but everything indeed has. The two continue to tower high; the two continue to experiment; and the two will thrive not just because they are super-talented but because they have the backing of a new breed of creatives — people who push the envelope of Malayalam cinema.
The other stars:
In 2009, like Mammootty and Mohanlal, the box-office contenders too, as was the norm, continued with their mixed-bag of flops and successes.
Suresh Gopi pranced up and down in uniform in IG and played two generations of a die-hard communist ideologist in TV Chandran’s Bhoomi Malayalam; this year, he was barking at the commies, even doing his ‘shit dance’ as a BJP candidate.
Jayaram did My Great Father with Ajay Kumar alias Guinness Pakru in 2009; now he does My Great Grand Father; he did the syrupy Bhagyadevatha in 2009 but is better off as Lonappan in this year’s Lonappante Mammodisa.
Asif Ali debuted with Ritu in 2009; as did Rima Kallingal; if Asif Ali has a fine line-up of films, Rima is blazing a trail — a star on her own league, bold to speak her mind; and now producer of this year’s seminal, creative and commercial hit, Virus.
Which takes us to the real heroes — who transformed Malayalam cinema, lock, stock and barrel, without resorting to formula:
Drumroll then for Aashique Abu, who debuted as director in 2009 helming Mammootty in Daddy Cool. Aashique went on to craft a new narrative paradigm for Malayalam cinema — you might love it or not — and in doing so lent wings to a new pool of talents — including Khalid Rahman, who directed Unda.
Director Ranjith Shankar too debuted in 2009 with Passenger, starring Dileep; the director has cut his own turf in cinema with what can unmistakably be called the ‘Renjith Shankar’ brand of films.
Prithviraj, who once stood up to the stars, fought his own battles, was mocked and trolled by petty haters (reminding one of Charmillionaire’s Good Morning Haters), found his bearing as a box-office star with Puthiya Mugham — and then Robin Hood — in 2009. This year, he directed Mohanlal and has announced Lucifer 2 in addition to pausing to do the crappy Brother’s Day.
The shy actor in Murali Gopy, who made a come-back with Bhramaram in 2009, went on to define a new sensibility in Malayalam cinema — which is not pretentiously real but weighs in the ‘wholesomeness’ of cinema through compelling scripts. His films including Ee Adutha Kaalathu and Left Right Left made a lasting impact while Kammara Sambhavam, displayed a rare control in popular story-telling that was lost on many but (IMHO) would stand the test of time as a fine piece of cinema relevant to the times we live in.
Reserve, then, your applause for the Kerala Café team too — produced by director Ranjith — who was this year seen as actor in Unda.
And look at the arc that the people who were associated with Kerala Cafe have traversed: Anwar Rasheed, who put his money in Premam, supports and grooms a whole new generation of talents; Anjali Menon, who brought a distinguished battle of the sexes in Happy Journey and in turn was inspired by the Marathi film Happy Journey for Koode last year, proved that the glass ceiling is imaginary in Malayalam cinema; director M Padmakumar is helming Mamankam having delivered the super-hit Joseph; and Fahadh Faasil, who returned from his hiatus, after the harrowing Kaiyethum Doorathu, in 2009, to play a journalist in Kerala Café continues to push his boundaries as an actor.
So, it is not Traffic and Salt N’ Pepper that transformed Malayalam cinema; the seeds were sown much earlier in 2009.
Here, then, is a toast to the year — as we mark a decade since.
ENDS
